Alleged Rape: Activists, Women Group Set To Storm COZA Church Sunday
Some activists and women group are mobilising to stage a #ChurchToo protest Sunday against Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of the Common Wealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) over the recent rape allegation against him.
The proposed protest followed a flyer and notice of protest, which has been circulated on Twitter and other social media urging Nigerians to converge for a protest march on Sunday.
Pastor Fatoyinbo was recently accused by Busola Dakolo, wife of artist Timi Dakolo of raping her when she was 17 and working as a member of the choir in his church. Many Nigerians have taken to the social media Twitter to call out the COZA pastor to stand trial and clear his name while others have resorted to the proposed protest march to call out the pastor.
The protest according to the flyer is against all supposed men of God who ‘hide under the church to commit atrocities’ is to hold at 8:00 AM at the COZA church complex.
The flyer reads in part: “If you are outraged by the alleged sexual abuses perpetrated by pastors and so-called ‘men of God’, join us for a protest march to COZA Church, Abuja. Mrs. Dakolo’s Allegations Busola Dakolo, wife of musician, Timi Dakolo, told YNaija that Pastor Fatoyinbo raped her at age 16 when the cleric came to her family residence in Ilorin, deflowering her in the process.
Mrs. Dakolo, now mother of three, said the first encounter happened on a morning when Mr Fatoyinbo knocked on the door of her family home in Ilorin. The family had been a long time member of COZA, 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 Mr. Fatoyinbo told her after the alleged rape that she should be grateful that it was a man of God who did that to her. She said the preacher raped her the second time within the same week on a deserted road, also narrating several unwanted sexual encounters that followed the first incident, all of which she said she had carried as a burden for several years. She said she recently found the confidence to publicly tell her story.
Mrs Dakolo said the case was known to COZA Pastors Folarin Ogunsola, Wole Soetan, who tried to cover it up.
She said Mr Fatoyinbo pleaded with her and her family to forgive her and blamed the devil for his behaviour.
Mrs. Dakolo’s allegation came six years after Mr. Fatoyinbo faced allegations of sexual misconduct and adultery from two women, including Ese Walters.
The two other women did not accuse Mr. Fatoyinbo of raping them, and they also largely avoided confronting him unlike Mrs. Dakolo. Nigerians have expressed enormous support for the Dakolos for their courage, and calls for Mr. Fatoyinbo’s arrest and prosecution have also intensified on social media.
Mr Fatoyinbo denied the allegations on Friday, saying in an official church statement that he had never raped a woman “even as an unbeliever.”
The pastor threatened a lawsuit against Mrs. Dakolo and others he accused of defaming his character, adding that many of the sexual misconduct claims he had faced over the years had come from scorned women within his ministry.
The police have however, said they would require a formal complaint of wrongdoing against the pentecostal preacher, before they could take criminal action against him.
Police Commissioner Bala Ciroma told newsmen in Abuja that the police usually require complaints from victims or witnesses or both to proceed with rape charges.
“They should file a formal complaint,” Mr Ciroma said.
“And then the police can see how to proceed from there.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has however, said it cannot intervene in the allegation against him.
While reacting to the development, CAN President, Supo Ayokunle, said the body does not interfere in the running of churches.
His media aide, Oladeji Adebayo, noted that CAN only concerns itself with serving as an intermediary between the church and the government.
“I am sorry CAN does not intervene in how churches are running. Churches belong to denominations and these are the two bodies that regulate how pastors run their ministries, not CAN. We deal with inter religious matters and stands between the church and the government,” he was quoted as saying.
