By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –
TWO Nigerian brothers yesterday appeared in a Lusaka magistrate’s court where they pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl.

. ANDREW

Prophet Andrew EJimadu, 39, ‎and his student brother, Cleopas EJimadu, 21, are each facing one count of defilement.
The offence is believed to have occurred between January 27 last year and June this year.
Andrew of Christ Freedom Ministries is also suspected to have committed the same offence between March last year and June this year.
The two, of Lusaka’s Ibex area, initially appeared before principal magistrate Mwaka Mikalile, who allocated the matter to magistrate Sylvia Munyinya.
They denied the charges after Ms Munyinya read the offence to them.
Lawyers representing ‎the Ejimadu br‎others, Bonaventure Mutale, Kennedy Kaunda and Mutakela Lisimba applied for bail for their clients.
Mr Mutale said the offence of defilement was bailable and that Andrew, who is a lead cleric in his church, was of an established residential address.
He said the two were willing to surrender their passports to the court as security, adding that although Andrew was a foreigner, he had lived ‎in Zambia for five years and would provide Zambian sureties.
The State, however, objected to the application stating that the two were foreigners who could flee the country if granted bail, which would defeat justice.
Ms Munyinya granted the two accused persons bail and ordered them to pay K15,000 cash as surety.
Trial commences on August 29.
Meanwhile, a Lusaka banker has been committed to the High Court ‎for trial involving the alleged murder of her husband.
Precious Longwe Litebele, 30, a customer care officer at a named bank, is alleged to have shot dead Akakanda Lubinda Litebele.
She is alleged to have killed her husband after the couple returned to their home in Woodlands area in Lusaka from a drinking outing on May 25 this year.