In this report, TOPE SUNDAY, ABDULRAHMAN ZAKARIYAU, ENE OSANG and LATEEF DADA take a look at the increasing cases of rape by clerics, Muslim and Christian, and query why it persists.
Nigeria’s media space was awash with news of alleged rape perpetrated by the Founder of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, against Busola Dakolo, wife of inspirational singer, Timi Dakolo about 20 years ago. This had resulted in series of protests and social media campaign which forced the embattled Fatoyinbo to suspend himself as the head of the church.
The allegation against Fatoyinbo has pitched Nigerians against one another on the veracity of the allegation, which has also given birth to some more allegations against some other clerics.
While this was still dominating the media space, an osun state-based Islamic cleric, Habeebulah Abdulrahman, was reported to have also raped a 16-year-old girl, who is said to be one of his ‘students’.
The saga
Kwara state-born Pastor, Fatoyinbo, had been accused by one of his said victim’s husband, Timi Dakolo, of sleeping with church members before his wife, Busola.
In an interview with Chude Jideonwo, a Nigerian lawyer, journalist and media entrepreneur, published penultimate Friday by YNaija channel, Busola alleged that when she was a 16-year-old in the Divine Delight Club at Ilorin, Kwara state; the precursor to Fatoyinbo’s Commonwealth of Zion Assembly when she said was groomed and raped by the pastor.
“Fatoyinbo showed up at our house unannounced early on a Monday morning and I was still in my nightgown, as my mother had traveled with my sisters and were absent at service the previous Sunday.
“Immediately I opened the door, he just pushed me. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t utter any word, he just pushed me to one of the chairs in my living room. I saw him, he was removing his belt, he just said: ‘keep quiet, do what I want you to do and you will be fine.”
“He didn’t say anything after, left to his car, returned with a bottle of Krest and forced me to drink it, probably as some crude contraceptive,” Ms Dakolo alleged
Though, the embattled pastor had denied the allegation and his wife, Modele also backed him, the development has led to protests by some Nigerians who demanded that Fatoyinbo should be arrested and prosecuted. The pressure became too tensed that he voluntarily stepped down as the head of the church.
During of the protests against Pastor Fatoyinbo, a woman later identified as Bisola Johnson leveled a rape allegation against T.B Joshua, the founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).
Ms Johnson, in a video clip, alleged that she was kept captive in SCOAN for 14 years and was raped for same 14 years by Prophet TB Joshua.
But in a swift reaction to her allegations, SCOAN described the lady as mentally ill, who is looking for attention.
“Since the beginning of the week, one of the topic that hasn’t left the mouth of the public is the rape issue happening everywhere, there have been allegations on men of God and one of the most recent is that of Prophet TB Joshua, the founder of Synagogue church of all nations.
“A lady, identified as Bisola Johnson has been parading herself as a victim of rape by the man of God, in the light of Biodun Fatoyinbo’s case.
“She revealed that she was kept captive in SCOAN for 14 years and was raped for same 14 years by Prophet TB Joshua.
‘In response to this, the church has released a video of the alleged victim during her first appearance in the church, she made it known in the video that she willingly came to SCOAN for deliverance from the spirit of death and after some time, she vanished.
“It will also be recalled that she came up some years back to make same allegations but because of the unbelievable story, she didn’t get the attention of people which is why she came up now with her story now that rape is trending, “ the church said.
…Islamic clerics’ too
As their Christian counterparts are battling with their images over rape allegations, some of the Islamic clerics are also facing the similar fate. A case also trending is that of an Osun state-based Islamic cleric, Habeebulah Abdulrahman, (popularly known as Al-Edewy), who has been accused of raping a 16-year-old female student of his Islamic school.
Abdulrahman, who denied the rape allegation, described the raped victim as his wife who he said he had the right to have sexual intercourse with her.
His claim has, however, been denied by the victim and her family and the alleged rapist is has been charged to court.
Similarly, an Islamic Cleric, Abdulsalam Salaudeen, was last month remanded by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl in a mosque.
The accused, who was arraigned before Justice Abiola Soladoye, is being tried for allegedly defiling the child, who was under his tutelage.
According to the prosecution team Salaudeen committed the offence on December 22, 2018, at the premises of Olorunbabe Mosque at No. 15, Palace Road, Igando, Lagos.
Salaudeen, popularly called Alfa, was allegedly caught raping the child via the footage of a hidden camera which was installed within the premises of the mosque by suspicious individuals.
Also, in November 2016, another Muslim cleric called Alfa Gbadegesin was arraigned before a court sitting in Lagos for allegedly ‘fingering’ his daughter and forcing her to rub his manhood.
The 43-year-old Alfa, who lives at No. 8, Humuani Street, Shomolu area of the state, was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on sexual assault for allegedly inserting his fingers into his daughter’s private parts as well as forcing her to rub his manhood.
Why it persists
As the Bisola Dakolo and Fatoyinbo saga continues to generate reactions from different quarters, one of the issues that have formed opinion is the attractive dressing of women in today’s churches. Investigations by Blueprint Weekend revealed that many pastors have been facing temptation usually posed by women.
Revelations by Pastors have also showed that beautiful women are many in Churches and many of them, in many occasions, are serious threat and temptation to pastors. The threat being posed by women, according to investigation is not limited to the young ladies in the church; married women are also after the pastors, using different tactics to get the face of these pastors.
Experiences shared by some pastors have also shown that only a divinely ordained pastor can escape the temptation of women in Churches today, and they are the people that pastors relate with, mostly, due to consultation and advise usually required from pastors.
While some pastors have been able to escape the trick and temptation they face from women in their Churches, many have not find it easy to escape it, hence the reason why some pastors are being accused of impregnating member of the Church.
Some pastors believed that it is not easy to avoid women in the Church because they usually seek counselling and they also encounter many issues, most of which are matrimonial matters.
… Avoiding temptation
Speaking to this medium of the rising cases of clerics involvement in sexual abuse, the Osun state Chairman, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), and the state’s District Superintendent, Souls of God, Reverend Olasunbo Ige, said the population of women is more in the congregation than men and they are usually tempting. He concluded that the best is for Pastors to avoid those women.
He said: “When you look at our churches today, the majority of members are women. There are very scanty men in the church unlike any other members of the congregation, the relationship that should exist between a pastor and his member is like that of father and son or father and daughter relationship.
“A Pastor supposed to be a model, and a Pastor should to set a good example for his congregation. The relationship between a Pastor and his member suppose to be a spiritual relationship. And when you are dealing with any matter that is spiritual, one should do it with consciousness.
“Women easily get sympathy and when you are counselling a woman, the love that is lost between her and her husband, she always wishes to transfer the love to you. That’s why it is very important to be conscious when you are counselling a woman. When you try to share experience with a woman during counselling, she could be thinking: why should I have not married this man?
“A sister had told her friend that if God did not choose between me and my two friends, that means God does not want her to marry.
“A sister once came to me that she was on family planning and her husband was in Port Harcourt. We were in Osogbo and she said I should not be afraid. There was a time she came, my wife was not around, when she saw that I locked the main gate she came to my window and started calling me “Reverend I’ve come o”. I bluntly refused to open the door for her.
“So, a man of God should also be a man of integrity. The moment a Pastor begins to mesh up with his congregation, his integrity is in doubt and he is in trouble. Sin always relegates a man. Integrity and fear of God should be the guide of any Pastor.
“So, the best thing is to run away from temptation and every Pastor should avoid being in a situation that he can easily be succumbed to temptation’’.
Satan’s agents out to destroy clerics
In his own view, the Director of Publicity, World Bishops’ Council, Africa, Bishop Seun Adeoye, observed that agents of Satan are many in churches nowadays and their purpose is to destroy Pastors. He suggested that immoral dressing should be banned in churches to reduce the temptation.
“To be candid, Pastors need the help of God because we all are prone to all manners of exposure. Once you receive the call to become a servant of God and you declare your interest in the job, you are faced with several challenges.
“The church where you minister consists of several characters. Church is expected to be a home for saints who were once sinners. But it is not always so.
“There are also agents of Satan in our various congregations. The purpose of their coming to church is to destroy the pastors. As servants of God, pastors are expected by the people to be super saints whose lives should portray nothing but absolute perfection.
“The office of a pastor is very delicate and so combustible that with a spark, it will ignite fire. We are fighting against so many enemies. While we work hard to free men and women and the society from the grips of the devil, we are also faced with enormous battles from many sides.
“But, I need to say this, no pastor is invulnerable. The truth is that we have seen great men of faith who fell. Devil attacks people from their weak points. That is why pastors must deal with the flesh. They must know their weaknesses and fervently pray to God to help them overcome these challenges. If need be, they should seek counsel from other senior pastors.
“All pastors have moments of their challenges. One critical area is our dealing with women that you called beautiful. Beautiful is not synonymous with sinfulness. And there are no ugly women in the church anyway. They are all beautiful. How do you avoid the pitfalls?
“Pastors must be discipline. We must see ourselves as true representatives of Holy God and strive to be holy as Him. We must know that we are going to give accounts of all our actions to God. We must fear His judgment.
While we see women as weaker vessels, we must as a matter of principle treat young and those beautiful women as our own sisters and daughters with purity.
“We must learn not to counsel young women in secrecy or be alone with them in our counsel room. It can be dangerous. Again, we must be firm when it comes to manners of dressings in the Church. If the church is the Temple of God, then no immoral dressing should be allowed.
“You’ll be surprised to see women dressing in ways that exposed their nakedness. They wear clothes to seduce opposite sex. If a woman is not a prostitute why expose the sensitive part of her body? Church is not a brothel; it is the house of God.
“It is the pastor’s duty to tell women in his church and insists that they wear modest and sensible clothes. The Bible is very clear about this in 1 Timothy 2:9.
“Let pastors be satisfied with their wives. Anyway, some pastors’ problems are not about women. Whatever it is, we still are faced with spiritual matters and we are on the battlefield. Daily, we must fight to keep on. It is very deep and only the deep can understand. May God help all his ministers’’, he said.
