Pastor of the God Foundation Spiritual Church of Christ, Ibùdó Aseyori of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, at Osioyemi Eleweran, in Abeokuta, Nigeria, Monday Ogunyomi, has been arrested and detained by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman during a cleansing prayer in the church premises.
Reports say the incident occurred at about 12:10 a.m., on Wednesday, after the pastor was said to have gone naked and allegedly ordered the survivor to put off her clothes before beginning the prayer session.
Advised by a friend, the mother of the survivor, Toyin Akanbi, had earlier approached the pastor to help her daughter, who was allegedly battling with nightmares, with spiritual deliverance.
According to a police document said to be made available to Punch on Monday, Akanbi told the policemen at the Aregbe Division that the pastor had earlier asked her to pay a sum of N80,000 before he could start the deliverance.
“My daughter has been having constant, dreadful nightmares. The pastor is a prophet presiding over the church at Eleweran. He asked me to pay N80,000. But she deposited N50,000 so that the pastor could start the delivery on time.
“When the mother called her daughter hours later to find out how her night experience was, she was surprised when the survivor recounted how the pastor forcefully had carnal knowledge of her in the wee hours of the night she got to the church,” she told the police.
Also, a police source who was privy to the investigation but chose not to be named because he was not authorised to speak for the division said that after the pastor’s arrest and during interrogation, the survivor said the pastor told her that they would have to put off their clothes before he could start the deliverance.
“Upon interrogation, the survivor said the pastor ordered her to go naked before the pastor could start the prayer. As they were praying naked, the survivor also said the pastor ordered her to lie on a bench where she was allegedly raped.
“However, the pastor denied having carnal knowledge of her, even though he confirmed that they were both praying naked,” the source said.
When contacted on Monday, the spokesperson for the command, Omolola Odutola, said a medical form had been issued to the survivor for examination, stating that the pastor would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.
“The mother took the daughter to the church for spiritual cleansing, but the pastor allegedly had carnal knowledge of the lady while they were both naked praying in the middle of the night. He has been arrested.
“The case is under investigation and will be transferred to the state CID. The survivor has been issued a medical form and taken to a hospital in the Aregbe area of Abeokuta for examination.”