- He impregnated, aborted for me twice – Victim
- Allegations untrue, my enemies at work – Suspect
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The founder of the Great Tabernacle Miracle Church of God, Aga area in Ido Osun, Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State, Prophet Adeyemi Adeniran, is in trouble following allegations by some of his female church members, including married women, that he camped and sexually molested them.
Some teenage girls alleged that the cleric raped them serially under the guise of transferring spiritual powers to them. He was said to have impregnated one of the girls twice and forced her to abort the pregnancies.
Prophet Adeniran, popularly known as ‘Baba Lesekese’ by his numerous church members, is said to be an officer of the Nigerian Immigration Service.
It was learnt that most of the female church members had been under the noose for many years.
According to one of them, (name withheld) Adeniran had, on different occasions, forced them to undergo abortion.
He was reported to have camped some of the female church members, brought by their parents for spiritual cleansing, in some of the rooms within the church premises.
It was gathered that the man, who is in his late 40s, was in the habit of giving the congregation the impression that their female children were evil spirits possessed and would, thereby, suggest to them that they should bring them for deliverance.
One of the victims (name withheld) disclosed that her mother brought her to the prophet in February, 2017 for spiritual consultation in view of her proposed journey abroad but alleged that the cleric asked her mother to let her stay back for prayer of deliverance from evil spell.
She said that “My mother took me to him (Adeniran) in February 2017 to seek consultation for my proposed journey abroad. We met him while he was leading a service in his church and we waited. After the service, he met us. He told my mother that I was possessed and that she should keep me with him for deliverance.
“My mother obliged. I moved into a room and I found some other young girls there on the mountain. At night, he came to me and asked me to remove my pants. I refused but he insisted and promised that he would take good care of me and also take care of my mother. I tried to stop him but he forced himself on me and raped me.
“He continued doing that for some months till I became pregnant in 2018. He took me to a hospital and some drugs were given to me for abortion. I aborted it and he continued to force me to sleep with him till I became pregnant again in 2019. Again, he asked me to abort it and I did. I had to voice out to my mother when I couldn’t bear it anymore because he started threatening that he would kill me if I told anyone about it.”
Another young girl alleged that the cleric usually sneaked into her room within the church premises and would molest her sexually there.
“Last September, he started coming into my room and would touch my private parts and breasts. He warned me against telling anyone,” she said.
Similarly, a married woman who worked at the Mountain of Change Medical Centre, Ido-Osun, a hospital owned by the cleric, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said that she was sexually abused by the suspect while she was working as a medical officer at the hospital.
According to her, the prophet refused to pay her salary for some months. She also claimed that he owed her some amount of money that she used to bail him from custody when he was arrested by the police some time ago.
“I visited him for a breakthrough and he called me into his office and said that he wants to give me power. He asked me to open my mouth saying that he wanted to put salt there. When I opened it, I saw him removing his tongue and he said he wanted to transfer power to me. I asked him to stop and he later did. I started working with him at his hospital from February 2021, but he didn’t pay me February salary. In March, he didn’t pay me. I worked there for six months without a salary.
“I was operating as the doctor, the nurse and the consultant all at once at the hospital. One day, I was informed that he (Adeniran) was not feeling fine and that I should come and attend to him. I went there with another staff member with first aid equipment. On getting there, he started caressing me and I told him to stop it, that I am a married woman. Due to this, I quit.”
“At night, he came to me and asked me to remove my pants. I refused but he insisted and promised that he would take good care of me and also take care of my mother. I tried to stop him but he forced himself on me and raped me”
However, Adeniran said that the allegations leveled against him were masterminded by his detractors, stressing, “All these allegations are baffling; they are not true. I sense that some people are not happy with the fact that my ministry is growing. They are just using it to tarnish my image. Those making the allegations were my former staff. I asked them to quit when I discovered that they were giving me problems at the centre.”
Meanwhile, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in the state has dragged the pastor before a Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo on 12-count-charge bordering on sexual exploitation, deceit and trafficking in persons.
The agency’s prosecution counsel, A.O Amodi, said that the defendant sexually exploited female members of his church sometimes in September 2021.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.
Justice Nathaniel Ayo Emmanuel ordered that the certificate of registration of the Great Tabernacle Miracle Church of God, Ido-Osun, should be confiscated as a pre-condition to the bail granted to the accused person after listening to the oral bail application by his counsel, Abiodun Adeniran.
The N5 million bail with two sureties in like sum granted to Adeniran, was also premised on the ground that the pastor had earlier been granted administrative bail by NAPTIP.
The defendant who was granted bail later failed to appear in court for the continuation of trial. Adeniran was accused of telling lies about his health to the court.
The defendant, represented by his lawyer, said that Adeniran wrote the court through the Medical Director of Alive Medical Centre, Adetoro Hospital about his ill health (partial stroke). The lawyer claimed that his client was unable to come to court because he was on admission at the Osun State Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo.
Not satisfied with the content of the letter written and signed by one Dr. Alaje, claiming that the defendant was being treated at the state Hospital, Asubiaro, the judge ordered the prosecuting counsel, A. O. Ademodi, to ascertain the veracity of the claim by the defendant’s lawyer.
Checks by the prosecuting counsel showed that the defendant was not at the state hospital as claimed. The letter was said to have been issued based on a correspondence purportedly brought from a private hospital, Alive Medical Centre, Adetoro Estate, Osogbo, allegedly channeled to the doctor through the Administrative Office of the state hospital.
Investigation showed that the defendant neither had a patient card nor a file at the state Hospital, Asubiaro, thereby laying credence to the fact that he had not, at any time, been registered there.
It was also discovered that Adeniran was not on admission at the Alive Medical Centre, Adetoro Estate where he claimed to have been receiving treatment in the last six months.
The judge revoked his bail and ordered his remand at the Ilesa Correctional Centre.
Angered by the development, some indigenes of Ido-Osun community under the aegis of Ido-Osun Youth Forum, insisted that Adeniran should move his church away from the town.
The aggrieved youth made the call in a letter jointly signed by the forum’s Chairman and Secretary, Adeyeye Abass and Akano Kamorudeen, respectively.
