Pressure is mounting on the Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, following a fresh allegation of rape against him on Friday.
Some Nigerians have decided to stage a protest today in front of the church in Abuja to express their angst over the allegations against Fatoyinbo who denied vehemently on Friday that he has ‘never raped’ anyone in his life.
The anti-Fatoyinbo protest will be led by Timi Dakolo, Busola’s husband, and is planned to run for seven days.
The protest will take place at COZA (Lagos and Abuja), the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Police Headquarters.
Some activists have launched a fund to face Fatoyinbo in the event that he goes to court as he threatened to do on Friday, soon after Busola Dakoro went on YouTube that the pastor raped her in 2000.
The latest accuser of Fatoyinbo who identifies herself simply as Franca E said on Instagram that she was introduced to the church by her childhood friend who “moved to Abuja from Calabar two years before I did.”
She added: “I really felt welcome in the church up until my friend started having problems with other women. She told me it was because Pastor Biodun trusted her with so many official things even above workers that were there before her.
“I believed her until the day she had a misunderstanding with another worker who called her ‘Ashewo Mary Magdalene’ in the church. After that, her enthusiasm for church started waning while mine was getting stronger till the day she told me she was leaving the church and shortly after she left.
“By that time, Pastor Biodun had developed an interest in counselling me and then started telling me to take my friend’s place as a PCU worker. I was reluctant because I didn’t feel like coming to church early and leaving late but Pastor Biodun assured me that his personal driver will pick me and drop me off and so I agreed.
“I started work as arranged but after a while, I noticed that the pastor did not respect personal space when talking to me when we were alone.
“He would stand so close and rub my upper arms or my back which made me very uncomfortable. The final straw was when he said I should go with him to Lagos to take notes and transfer same online immediately for some Pentecostal thing he was attending and he knew I was very computer literate.
“I was excited till we reached Lagos and I realized that only one room was booked at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi. Of course I complained and the Pastor called the front desk ( or pretended to) to demand for another room.
“He said they would call back when the room was ready. He then told me to help massage his back becos he has back ache from sitting on the flight. I said I was tired since it was already after 8. He then insisted I lay down on the bed to rest while waiting.
“I said I preferred to sit at the desk and he laughed saying that I was acting like a small girl or a village uneducated girl. He then went in to take a shower. I then called the front desk to remind then about the extra room.
“I wasn’t surprised when I was told that they had vacant rooms and that nobody had requested for an extra room. By this time, I knew what was up and was ready for the fool.
“I opened his pouch and saw his wallet which had his licence. Took a picture of the wallet and the licence on the pillow on the bed with my head in the shot. I opened the door and took several pictures of myself, the wallet and the licence with the room number.
“Came back in, once I heard the shower stop, I started audio recording on my BB. He came out with a towel around his waist and started telling me how attracted he was to me.
“He said many derogatory things about his wife, calling her a postcard…pretty on the outside but flat and empty upstairs. He said sex with her was like having sex with a cold dead fish…he tried to kiss me and I stood up, picked up my travelling bag, moved to the door, opened it and quickly took a picture of him, standing with a towel around him.
“He started begging. I called him all sorts of names and insisted he give me money for a separate room or I would scream ‘rape’. To cut a long story short, he asked me to shut the door, I refused, he brought out 2 bundles of N1000 and asked me to delete before he gives me the money.
“I told him he was in no position to negotiate. Got the money, left the Randy goat with a deflated erection and checked into another room.
“First thing the next morning, I left for ABJ. By the way, remember my childhood friend that introduced me to COZA? I narrated my experience to her and she confessed that she was sleeping with Biodun for over a year, even on his marital bed when his wife travelled. Oga Pastor, try and deny my story publicly and see American wonder….I still have the pictures and our conversation on tape. Thank God for technology.”
Some concerned Nigerians are already mobilizing to storm COZA, Abuja today to protest against Fatoyinbo.
Besides, Dr. Joe Abah has launched a fund to assist Busola Dakolo against threat of litigation by Fatoyinbo.
“I have seen Biodun Fatoyinbo’s statement. I look forward to him carrying out his threat to sue Busola Dakolo. As Mrs Dakolo doesn’t have a church that can fund her defence, I have set aside a little money to contribute to her defence. Please do so too. #IStandWithBusolaDakolo” he said on his Twitter handle @DrJoeAbah.
Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and senior special adviser to the president on foreign affairs and the diaspora, Mrs.Abike Dabiri-Erewa said: “Busola, you’ve got my back!”
Fatoyinbo has denied ever raping Busola or any woman for that matter.
“I have never in my life raped anybody even as an unbeliever and I am absolutely innocent of this,” he said on Instagram on Friday.
“We have more than 30 people who are ready to testify against him,” said Segun Awosanya, who is working with Citizen Gavel, a civic tech organisation, on the case.
“Busola’s case is just one out of the plethora of abuses that we have heard.”
When asked if Fatoyinbo could be sued for statutory rape since Busola said he raped her when she was below the age of 18, Awosanya said it is possible.
Awosanya, however, warned against the case against Fatoyinbo being misconstrued as a fight against the church.
“We are ending rape culture and we are starting in the culture.”
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said last night that it was consulting with the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria over the allegations against Fatoyinbo.
The Special Assistant, Media and Communications to the CAN President, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, said in a statement that CAN would get to the root of the matter.
The body condemned rape of any type in “strong terms,” saying “it doesn’t matter who is involved.”
It added: “It is ungodly, wicked, and reprehensible. ”
But it said that for now, it had no details about the Fatoyinbo saga matter” other than what we are reading on the social media, this is not reliable and credible evidence enough to jump into a conclusion.
“The CAN Leadership, therefore, 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.”
In 2013, Ese Walters, a former member of the church and protocol official, regaled the public, in a social media post, of a long-term extra marital affair with the charismatic pastor.
According to her, he and Fatoyinbo shared intimate, sexual moments in Nigeria and the United Kingdom for several months until she became contrite and requested an end to the relationship.
Throughout the duration the controversy lasted, Fatoyinbo maintained silence.
Countless pressure on him to clean out to address the accusation by leaders of the church failed. A former leader confided in our correspondent that the preacher simply told them, in a strategic meeting “this will be forgotten in no time as long as we don’t give people ammunition to fuel it.”
The police said in Abuja yesterday that they required a formal complaint of wrongdoing against Fatoyinbo, for them to take a criminal action against him.
Premium Times quoted FCT Police commissioner Bala Ciroma as saying that formal complaints should be filed against Fatoyinbo first .
“They should file a formal complaint,” Ciroma said. “And then the police can see how to proceed from there.” (NAN)
