The Rivers State Police Command said it re-arrested a pastor, Felix Duruebube, over the alleged defilement of a 16-year-old member of his church in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The cleric, who is the presiding Bishop of a new generation church, was initially arrested and detained by the police in Rumuodumaya division for the same crime, but was later released.

The state branch of the International Federation of Women Lawyers had raised the alarm that the pastor, who was supposed to have been arraigned, was no longer in police custody.

After the complaint, the police re-arrested the cleric.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the pastor’s re-arrest to our correspondent on Sunday.

Iringe-Koko said the pastor was being detained at the State Criminal and Investigation Department, where the matter was transferred to.

She said Duruebube would be charged at the end of investigations.

The Publicity Secretary of FIDA in Rivers State, Sophia Afolayan, commended the Commissioner of Police, Eboka Friday, for the move.