On Saturday, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemned any case of rape in “strong terms,” saying it doesn’t matter who is involved.
CAN president Samson Ayokunle, who issued the condemnation, stressed that justice must prevail in all rape circumstances.
Mr Ayokunle has defined rape as “ungodly, wicked and reprehensible.”
However, he stated that CAN had no information on trending claims against the founder of the Zion Assembly Commonwealth (COZA), Abiodun Fatoyinbo.
Since Friday morning, Mr Fatoyinbo has been the topic of press derision when a video interview was posted online in which a lady, Busola Dakolo, accused him of violating her.
Mrs. Dakolo, musician’s wife Timi Dakolo, informed YNaija news platform that she was only 16 when Mr. Fatoyinbo went to her Ilorin’s family home and raped her, deflowering her in the process.
Mrs. Dakolo, now the mom of three, said the first meeting occurred on a morning when Mr. Fatoyinbo knocked at the gate of her family home in Ilorin. The family had been a COZA member for a long time, and they saw Mr Fatoyinbo as a diligent and decent figure.
“Immediately I opened the door, he just pushed me, he did not say anything, he did not utter any word, he just pushed me to one of the chairs in my living room,” Mrs Dakolo told YNaija.
“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,’” Mrs Dakolo said.
Mrs Dakolo said that after the alleged rape, Mr Fatoyinbo told her that she should be thankful that it was a man of God who did that to her.
She said the preacher raped her on a deserted highway for the second time in the same week.
She also recounted several unwanted sexual encounters that followed the first incident, all of which she said had been carrying as a burden for several years. She said she lately discovered confidence to tell her tale openly.
Mrs Dakolo’s allegation came six years after two ladies, including Ese Walters, who had confronted Mr Fatoyinbo with accusations of sexual misconduct and adultery.
Mr Fatoyinbo defended Friday’s accusations, stating in an official declaration from the church that he had never abused a lady “even as an unbeliever.”
The clergyman threatened a lawsuit against Mrs. Dakolo and others he accused of defaming his personality, stating that many of the allegations of sexual abuse he had encountered over the years had come from scorned females in his ministry.
For their courage, Nigerians have expressed tremendous support for the Dakolos, and calls for the arrest and prosecution of Mr Fatoyinbo have also intensified on social media.
But the police said that before taking action against Mr Fatoyinbo, they would need a formal complaint.
Mr. Ayokunle, the CAN leader, said the organization had reached out to the Christian wing that Mr. Fatoyinbo belongs to ascertaining the reality of the issue and taking necessary action.
“We have no details about the matter other than what we are reading and hearing from the social media, and this is not reliable and credible evidence,” he said.
“The CAN leadership has reached out to the leadership of the block which the Pastor in question belongs with a view to getting to the root of the matter.
“This will help us to make the right decision on the issue,” he said.
