A 38-year-old pastor, Israel Adebayo has been arrested in Ogun State for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old choir member.
Adebayo is the General Overseer of The Beloved Chapel situated at No 9, Iyaniwura Street, off Owonikoko street in the Agbado area of Ogun State.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who disclosed the arrest in a statement, said the suspect was apprehended following a complaint lodged at Agbado Divisional Headquarters by the mother of the victim.
He said the victim’s mother reported that when she travelled to treat herself for a certain ailment, her daughter who happened to be a choir member in their church, went to church and the Pastor lured her into his room and forcefully had carnal knowledge of her.
Upon the report, the DPO Agbado division deployed his detectives to the scene where the pastor was promptly arrested.
“On interrogation, the Pastor who admitted defiling the victim pleaded for forgiveness. According to him, his family and that of the victim are so close, but he didn’t know how and why such a thing happened to him,” the police spokesman said.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect would have been arrested long ago, but the mother of the victim frustrated the move because she doesn’t want to offend her Pastor. But when the victim is continuously bleeding from her private part since the incident which happened October 2021, she was left with no other option than to allow police come into the matter.”
On his part, the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and possible prosecution.
The police commissioner also warned parents to stop the habit of covering anybody who indecently assaults their daughters no matter how close they are to such persons as they too may be liable for prosecution for compounding a felony.
