Alex
By Adenike Ayodele
A 25year woman (name withheld) on Wednesday told an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court how a bishop, Oluwafeyiropo Daniels, allegedly raped her while praying.
The alleged rape occurred at the clerics residence in Lekki, Lagos State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bishop is standing trial on an amended threecount charge bordering on rape and sexual assault, to which he pleaded not guilty.
The alleged victim/survivor testified at the resumed trial of the defendant.
The witness, who was a member of a church founded by the defendant, was led in evidence by state lead counsel, Mr Babajide Boye.
According to the alleged survivor, she was in her sisters shop in Osogbo on Jan. 2, 2019, when her cousin was listening to the bishops sermon on the phone.
I told my cousin the sermon was nice and he told me the name of the church which I searched for and followed its page on Facebook.
After that, I was able to chat with Feyi on Facebook and he added me to a WhatsApp group called Spiritual Sonship Group, she testified.
The alleged victim told the court that she met the defendant for the first time at a camp in 2019 when the church had a threeday retreat.
He later had a programme at OAU which I attended and met Brother Isaac, one of his spiritual sons, and we exchanged numbers.
From the sonship group, I took an assistant pastor / first prosecution witness (PW1) (name withheld) to be my prayer partner because, irrespective of our gender, we call ourselves sons.
On the WhatsApp group, Feyi dropped a message that all sons should pick a convenient time to fast for 70 days, pray for two hours and break at 6.00 p.m.
daily and come to Lagos for laying of hands after the fasting, she testified.
The witness told the court that the defendant told her personally to come to Lagos for laying of hands after the fasting.
On Sept. 8, 2019, I told her (first prosecution witness, PW1) that I was going to Lagos for the laying of hands but the programme started late and there was nowhere to sleep because I had no one I could stay with in Lagos.
PW1 told me to call and tell Feyi that I had no one to stay with for the night, and I did.
He said there was no problem, and this made me to follow him to his house with some other members, including Bro Israel and his wife, but they later left the house that same day, she said.
The witness said that a lady identified simply as Rachael took her to a room where she slept.
The following morning, Feyi came out of his room and laid his hands on my head and started praying for me at the dining section, after I greeted him.
I went inside the room to start preparing to go to Osogbo, and he told me there was food in the kitchen, that I should eat.
I was eating at the dining when he came to meet me again and said, Are you in your period
I said, No, and he went back to his room.
I did not see Rachael in the morning though we slept in the same room, she said.
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