Mrs Busola Dakolo, a celebrity photographer who accused Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo, senior pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), of raping her has filed an official complaint with the Police

In a video interview that has now gone viral, Dakolo, wife of Nigerian singer, Timi Dakolo, alleged that the pastor had sexual relations with her when she was 16 going on 17 in Ilorin.

This means that the Police can now conduct an investigation into the allegation.

After protesters laid siege to some branches of his church in Lagos and Abuja on Sunday, Fatoyinbo announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the pulpit.

Dakolo, mother of three had on Friday made a shocking revelation in a detailed interview with Chude Jideonwo, a lawyer and journalist on YNaija channel of how the Abuja-based cleric raped her as a teenager. The viral video report has set social media and other online platforms on fire, evoking shock, backlash and criticism from Nigerians, especially the Christian community.

However, in his reaction, the embattled preacher posted a statement on his IG page @biodunfatoyinbo denying the allegation, adding that he had never raped a woman all his life. In the statement addressed from the ‘Office of the Senior Pastor’, Fatoyinbo described the allegation as false and baseless claim targeted at destroying his reputation and that of his church. “I have never in my life raped anybody even as an unbeliever and I am absolutely innocent of this.”, the statement reads in part.

In 2013, the clergy popularly called “Gucci Pastor”, because of his flamboyant fashion style, was also entangled in an allegation of infidelity with one Miss Ese Walter, a former member of the church.  

On Thursday, a former staff of the church also accused Fatoyinbo of having sexual relations with her without her consent.

The lady, pseudo named ‘X’, said the incident happened in 2017 beyond the shores of Nigeria.

She said she was in an undisclosed country, working for the church when Fatoyinbo invited her to his house and allegedly raped her.

According to her, Fatoyinbo apologised after the alleged rape, and she had to keep working with him and the church.

X further alleged that Modele, Fatoyinbo’s wife, is complicit in the rape allegations.

She explained that she was an ordinary member of the church for about five years until Modele made contact with her and brought her (X) close to the family.

She said everything done to bring her into the family was deliberate.

The ex-staff, who did not want to be named, said the incident happened in 2017 outside Nigeria.

The former staff spoke with Y!TV.

She said in part: “Biodun Fatoyinbo raped me sometime in September 2017 at his apartment outside Nigeria.

“We were discussing in his office on a couch before I knew it, he dragged me towards him.

“He took off my zipper, one hand putting me to the couch; at that point, I didn’t know what to do because I had to fight sexual abuse as a teenager.

“I felt I had put myself in the space.

“Everything moved quickly from there and then he started trying to pull me into a hug and started kissing me which I found shocking.

“I had known him as a spiritual leader and I was about to witness the opposite of everything that I thought he stood for.

“I was too shocked. It was a couch. I don’t know whether I should hold on to something.

“I remember telling him continuously ‘you can’t do that, you can’t do that.’

“I just kept telling him to stop but he kept telling me to relax.

“If you know him, you would know he is a weak person but has the appearance of strength, he was not moved by my pushing and did not relent to stop, after that he took off his pants and did what he wanted to do.

“As soon as that was over and he saw I was in tears, he apologised and he was sorry and didn’t mean to but I was just interested in getting out of there.

“After the incident, I still had to work with him.

“It happened in the last quarter of 2017, but I still stayed till July 2018.

“All that time, I already had a disconnect in the church because I was just there because this is what I was committed to.

“He flipped from sweet amazing person who was my mentor to something else.

“I remember that for the first time I saw a completely different person

“I saw him as someone who showed you what you want to see.

“When you meet him or interact with him, who you see is that charismatic leader who tells you to aspire, go out and do amazing things, he tried to appear like someone who understands the word but the person I met that day was completely different even though he apologised, I vowed not to talk about it again.

“After that time, he went back to Nigeria, I was not in Nigeria at that time, I still had to do things for the church despite the fact that I felt I no longer belong here.

“Pretty much, I didn’t go to his apartment to have sex with me but for work.

“I told him to stop, he raped me and I didn’t give my consent, as a matter of fact, I never saw him as anything than a pastor.

“I stayed in the church because I thought they were trying to do things differently but then, they were been deliberate, they are aware of how much power they have, they know how much people adore them and how important and witty their words are and they exploit them.

“There is a culture of silence in the church, its’ supposed to be a safe place, but it is not.”

Fatoyinbo has denied he raped Busola

In a statement he personally signed on Friday, Fatoyinbo said he was heading to the court in reaction to the interview Dakolo granted Y!Naija in which she levelled the accusations.

Busola Dakolo had alleged in the interview that the COZA Founder raped her from when she was 16. She said the first incident took place in her parents’ house.

Fatoyinbo, had earlier cancelled the church’s upcoming week-long programme as protests seeking his dismissal gather momentum.

The event tagged: ‘7DG’ was billed to hold from July 1 to July 7 was cancelled on Sunday during the church service with protesters holding a peaceful demonstration around the premises.

The protests tagged #ChurchToo and #PastorStepDown are currently being held at COZA branches in Lagos and Abuja with participants urging the church to suspend the clergy activities of Fatoyinbo pending investigations into the alleged rape accusations.

They marched to the church premises in their numbers with placards.

In Abuja, they were met with opposition from some unnamed security agents and another group protesting in support of the pastor and the church.

The protests also has active conversations on social media with #stepdownpastor, #churchtoo and #pastorbiodunfatoyinbo among the top five trending topics on Nigerian twitter.

Meanwhile, Fatoyinbo’s wife, Modele has also refuted the allegations against him on Sunday, adding that even before becoming a pastor, he has never raped anyone.

“Not even as an unbeliever will my husband rape someone,” Fatoyinbo said during the church service broadcast.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Saturday condemned any case of rape in strong terms, saying it doesn’t matter who is involved.

CAN President, Rev. Samson Ayokunle, who gave the condemnation via a text message to the News Agency of Nigeria, stressed that justice must prevail in all rape cases.

Ayokunle described rape as ungodly, wicked and reprehensible.

He, however, noted that CAN had no details on the trending allegations against Fatoyinbo.

But he confirmed that the association had reached out to the Christian Wing Fatoyinbo belongs, to ascertain truth of the matter and take necessary actions.

He said: “We have no details about the matter other than what we are reading and hearing from the social media, and this is not reliable and credible evidence.

“The CAN leadership has reached out to the leadership of the block which the Pastor in question belongs with a view to getting to the root of the matter.

“This will help us to make the right decision on the issue.”