Annastasia Kinse, a 29-year-old from Plateau State, has etched her name in local history as the first reverend sister from her village. After a decade of devoted service in the Congregation of Mother of Perpetual Help of the Archangels Sisters, her world unraveled in a storm of allegations, harassment claims, and institutional backlash.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/idrinstitute.png")
Dismissed in July 2025, Kinse alleges she was ousted not for apostasy, as claimed by her former order, but for rejecting sexual advances and reporting abuse—refusing to become what she calls a “temple prostitute” in a system that prioritized reputation over victims.
In an exclusive interview with The Vanguard, Kinse now living with family in Jos while battling chronic back pain from a 2024 motorcycle accident laid bare the harrowing details of her expulsion. Her story raises troubling questions about accountability in Nigeria’s Catholic institutions and echoes broader concerns over sexual harassment and cover-ups within religious circles.
Kinse joined the convent in July 2015, enduring two years of formation before making her perpetual vows in 2023. “For me, religious life was a deep calling, a way to serve God completely, in sincerity and truth,” she said, her voice steady despite the visible toll of her ordeal.
As a graduate assistant at Veritas University, Abuja where she was pursuing a master’s degree she balanced academia with her vows, becoming a beacon for her community.
But in early 2025, that light dimmed. Kinse reported sexual harassment by her head of department at Veritas, a Catholic university owned by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria. Armed with voice recordings and videos, she filed a confidential complaint, seeking anonymity to avoid scandal and protect other potential victims. “My intention was not to destroy anyone’s reputation; I only wanted to prevent him from doing it to other women,” she explained.
What followed, she said, was a nightmare of intimidation. Veritas authorities allegedly pressured her to waive anonymity and defend her claims publicly. A panel investigation, Kinse claims, turned the tables: “They made me feel as though I was the one on trial.”
She recalled being grilled with questions like, “If you knew he was going to harass you, why did you go to his office?”—despite the harasser being her direct superior. The session, she said, left her traumatized. No witnesses from her complaint, including the university’s Chief Medical Director, were called.
The hearing clashed with an examination she forfeited to attend. Her phone and bag were seized upon arrival, and the atmosphere was “hostile,” with panel members bombarding her simultaneously. Pleas for counseling amid her mounting mental distress went unanswered.
Kinse’s congregation, founded by the Catholic Bishop of Auchi Diocese in Edo State, shares ties with Veritas through the Church hierarchy. Yet support, she said, evaporated. The vice chancellor and bishop allegedly urged silence to safeguard the university’s image: “They claimed that speaking out would tarnish the reputation of the university they had worked hard to build.”
Uninvited visits followed. Priests and staff, including an unidentified nurse, allegedly descended on her home after the hearing. “I was about to leave the house when I saw them approaching. I felt completely cornered,” Kinse recounted. Fleeing on a motorcycle, she was pursued as they shouted for her to stop.
A prior incident, she said, compounded the betrayal: another priest had propositioned her explicitly—“He said he wanted to be ‘the first man to sleep with me’”—which she rebuffed. This rejection, she believes, triggered a “revenge mission,” twisting narratives against her. Even her superior, she added, knew of the advances but offered no support.
In a moment of raw despair on July 12, 2025, Kinse posted on Facebook about “converting” to Islam, invoking her late Muslim aunt’s name, Salamatu. “That post was not a conversion; it was made in a moment of frustration and despair,” she clarified. “I felt abandoned by the Church system I had served all my life.” The 2023 photo accompanying it only deepened the misunderstanding.
Rumors escalated after a diocesan priest, Rev. Fr. Solomon Andrew Olumekhor, circulated a letter on social media. Kinse’s congregation issued a disclaimer on July 21—received by her only on September 24—accusing her of vow-breaking and apostasy. Desperate for clarity, she went public.
The lowest point came after a meeting with the bishop, superior general, and priests. Refusing to stay in what she described as a “painful” guesthouse, Kinse returned to the central house to find her belongings strewn outside and her religious habit confiscated without notice. “Ten years of devotion, obedience, and sacrifice—all dismissed in an instant,” she said, tears welling. That night, she announced her dismissal on Facebook—not for pity, but for truth.
The congregation, she said, went as far as contacting her parents without consent, alleging she was mentally unstable. They wired N50,000 to her father’s account for her mother’s travel to Abuja for “intervention.” Anticipating their move, Kinse warned, “If you come believing their story, you won’t find me in Abuja.” She later aced her exams, traveled home independently, and sought psychiatric evaluation at a Jos teaching hospital—the results are still pending.
A subsequent meeting with the bishop, she said, ended in accusation: a letter branded her an apostate. “I told the bishop it was a complete lie, but he said there was nothing he could do,” she recalled. She walked away with the document and refused to engage further.
Her health, already fragile from the disc bulge sustained in the accident, worsened with constant travel between Jos, Abuja, and Auchi. Swelling and mobility issues persist without institutional support. “I’ve refused to take help from those who mistreated me. I would rather struggle honestly,” she affirmed.
Now living with her cousin and aided by her sister, Kinse quips: “I would rather hawk chin chin and groundnuts on the street than sell my body or become a temple prostitute. I promised my mother that, and I have kept that promise.”
Her six siblings remain her strongest support system. “They believe in justice and truth, and their faith in me has given me the strength to keep going,” she said.
When contacted, Superior General Sr. Maryanne Ogwokhademhe directed all inquiries to the congregation’s August 29 statement, co-signed with Secretary-General Sr. Rosemary Odion. The statement asserts that Kinse “ipso facto ceased to be a member” upon “defecting” to Islam, denying any sexual abuse report. It adds that her dismissal stemmed from “gross misconduct” and “persistent rejection of fraternal correction”—alleging she burned her habit, rejected counseling, and was sent to a monastery (all of which Kinse refutes as “lies from the pit of hell”).
An October 8 inquiry to Veritas University’s Human Resources Department yielded no response as of press time.
Kinse, who maintains that her perpetual vows remain binding, decried the lack of evidence supporting the mental instability claims: “If they say I’m mentally unstable, where is the medical proof?” She accused the Church of a broader cover-up: “Exposing one case would expose many others. Instead of helping victims, they protect reputations.”
Now jobless but determined, Kinse insists her quest is for justice, not vengeance. “Why protect an institution and not the victim? If institutions keep silencing victims, the Church will continue to lose credibility,” she warned, citing others similarly suppressed.
Her faith, however, remains unshaken. “They can take away my position, my title, and my job, but they cannot take away my voice.” To aspiring sisters, she offered a message of courage: “Religious life is beautiful, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. If you ever experience abuse or injustice, speak up.”
In the rot she witnessed, Kinse sees a divine call to reform: “The Church is meant to be a light to the world, not a place where victims are silenced.” Her story, she hopes, will embolden others to speak. “God is still writing my story,” she said, “and one day, even the chapters that broke me will make sense.”
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