Pastor Israel Adebayo, 38, the general overseer of The Beloved Chapel, Agbado in the state’s Ifo Local Government Area, has been detained by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old member of his church (name withheld).
This information was released in a statement on Sunday by SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state’s police public relations officer.
According to Oyeyemi, the pastor of the church, which is located at No. 9 Iyaniwura Street, off of Owonikoko Street, in the state’s Agbado region, was detained as a result of a complaint the victim’s mother filed at the Agbado divisional headquarters.
This comes after a different preacher was arrested a few days ago on a related charge in the state.
Oyeyemi stated that the incident occurred while the victim’s mother was traveling to treat herself of a specific ailment.
The PPRO said that the mother claimed her daughter, who just so happened to be a church choir member, went to church and the pastor forced carnal knowledge of her by luring her into his room.
He said, “Upon the report, the Divisional Police Officer, Agbado division, detailed 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 thing happened to him.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect would have been arrested a long time ago, but the mother of the victim frustrated the move because she didn’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.
“The victim, who claimed that the pastor was the first person to sleep with her, is currently recuperating in an hospital.”
However, the PPRO said that Lanre Bankole, the commissioner of police, had ordered the transfer of the matter to the state Criminal Investigation Department for more research and potential prosecution.
No matter how close they were to the perpetrators of indecent assault on their daughters, the Commissioner also advised parents to stop doing so since they might also be held accountable for a compounded criminal.
