- Parents warned to be more careful in relating with religious leaders
For adherents of Christianity, Islam and Traditional Religion, places of worship are regarded as sacred. Houses of God, temples and shrines are centres of offering supplications to God under the leadership of religious leaders whom people expect to live above board.
In some holy books, places of worship are described as where glory dwells and where the faithful yearn to go to commune with God and are expected to feel light and hopeful amid the tribulations in the world.
Sadly, however, crimes and violent deeds have gradually found a safe haven on the altar. The sacredness of temples of God has been violated. No thanks to some self-acclaimed religious leaders who have turned out to be animals in human skin, predators, extortionists and the demons they are purportedly casting out of the people.
Cases of rape, defilement and all sorts of sexual assault allegedly by bishops/pastors, Imams/Alfas and traditionalists have become constant headlines on the dailies.
Notwithstanding that a few of these Casanova who parade as men of God have been convicted and sentenced, this barbaric and ungodly acts persist in sanctuaries.
Recall that Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence, Ikeja, Lagos State, had sentenced an Islamic cleric, Abdulsalam Salaudeen, to life imprisonment and ordered his name to be registered in the sex offenders’ register.
The 43-year-old Salaudeen was caught having carnal knowledge of a girl whom he was supposed to be teaching Islamic studies.
The same court has reserved judgment until January 26, in a case involving a Lagos bishop, Oluwafeyiropo Daniel, charged with raping his assistant pastor and one other (names withheld).
Daniel, who is the Bishop of I Reign Christian Ministry, was also charged with attempted rape of one other alleged survivor (name withheld).
Recently, Kwara State Police Command arrested a self-professed herbalist, Sultan Ojuwoni, also known as Atakoro, for alleged rape and fraud. It was gathered that the herbalist allegedly raped a 21-year-old fashion-design apprentice, identified as Firdaus Jimoh, in his shrine located in Ibadan.
Most of the victims of these absurdities became prey to their abusers after approaching them for spiritual solutions to their problems. While some others, especially children were taken to these men of God for prayers, counseling and casting out demons in their lives.
Unfortunately, the unsuspecting members of the public, especially females seeking spiritual help, have continued to patronise these unholy individuals, making them fall prey to their antics and evil acts. Of note are women – mothers, grandmothers looking for a spiritual way out for their loved ones.
The most recent among the victims of these self-acclaimed prophets is a mother in Ijeda Ijesa in Oriade Local Government Area of Osun State, who got a prophecy that her 20-year-old daughter, Yemisi, had little more years to spend on earth.
Trouble started when the daughter, a student of one of the tertiary institutions in Osun, received a prophetic message from one of his colleagues during a prayer meeting in school that she needed to pray fervently if she wanted to live up to 25 years on earth. Yemisi called her mother and informed her about the message.
The mother, like every good mother would do, ran to a pastor to assist in reversing the negative prophecy, not knowing that she had approached a devil in white garments with an ulterior motive.
Identified as Omiri Kayode, the pastor of the Celestial Church of Christ, Ona Iye Parish, Ijebu Ijesa road, Ijeda Ijesa, who the mother ran to for help, ended up raping her daughter on her 20th birthday.
Meanwhile, stakeholders have expressed displeasure over the ugly development and called on state governments to rein in activities of some religious centres and their founders in order to stem the tide of the trend.
Also, child rights activists charged parents to do more in protecting their wards and sensitising them against falling victims of abuse under the pretext of getting spiritual favour.
A child rights advocate, Hameed Oyegbade, called on government at all levels to see to full implementation of existing laws on rape and sexual abuse in order to serve as deterrence to others.
He said, “We must think of how law can help the society to address this menace and we know that there are various laws including the Child Rights Act and Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, so, if they are properly implemented, it will help the parents and the society at large to discourage this kind of inhumane act of people that should be trusted but they are now the people inflicting this menace on innocent children.
“So, the point I am making is to let the government ensure thorough implementation of the existing laws. If the government is able to do that, they would have helped the parents because not all the parents have the capacity to really protect their children on their own. If we think of those parents that are more diligent and careful and probably elites who will keep their children inside their homes and probably if they have to go to the place of worship, they would follow them, or probably assign somebody to look after them, what about other parents that may not have all these consciousness?
“Some parents are even so unconscious to the extent that they will even hand-over their child to that cleric and go back home and tell the cleric, “Sir, you can do anything you like.” We have seen instances where the parents will even think that the child can stay there for days or even weeks, maybe under the pretext of the cleric trying to heal such a child.
He called on parents to be more careful in relating with religious leaders.
A human rights activist, Citizen Lola Wey, called on stakeholders including government and security agencies to regularise religious organizations and their leaders by discovering those who claim to be clerics and tarnish the image of the good ones.
