Witness Narrates How Bishop Rapes Her Under Pretence of Spiritual Engagement

May 24, 2023

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A 25-year-old woman has narrated before a Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja, how a bishop of iReign Christian Family deceived her into sex with the pretence of spiritual engagement and got her pregnant.

The Bishop, Daniel Oluwafeyiropo is standing trial on an amended three-count charge bordering on rape and sexual assault, to which he pleaded not guilty.

In her testimony, the woman said Daniel Oluwafeyiropo, was speaking in tongues while raping her.

The witness, who told the court she no longer attends any church, noted that she was a former member of Oluwafeyiropo’s church.

She was led in evidence by the state lead counsel, Mr. Babajide Boye

According to the alleged survivor, she was in her sister’s shop in Osogbo on Jan. 2 2019 when her cousin was listening to the bishop’s sermon on the phone.

She said: “So I told my cousin the sermon was nice and he told me the name of the church which I searched for and followed the church page on Facebook.

“After that, I was able to chat with the bishop on Facebook and he added me to a Whatsapp group called ‘spiritual sonship group’.

“The first time I met him in person was at Redeem Camp in 2019 where we had a three-day retreat and he later had a programme at OAU which I attended and met Brother Isaac, one of his spiritual sons whom we exchanged numbers.

“From the sonship group, I took an assistant pastor who is the first prosecution witness (PW1) (name withheld) to be my prayer partner because irrespective of our gender, we call ourselves sons.

“On the WhatsApp group, the Bishop dropped a message that all sons should pick a convenient time to fast for 70 days, pray for two hours and break at 6.00 p.m. daily and we should come down to Lagos for laying of hands after the fasting,”

The witness told the court that the defendant told her to come to Lagos for the laying of hands after she was done with her fast.

“On Sept. 8, 2019, I told PW1 I was going to Lagos for the laying of hands but the programme started late and there was nowhere to sleep because I had no one I could stay within Lagos.

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“PW1 told me to call the bishop that I had no one to stay with for the night and he said no problems which made me follow him to his house with other members who were Bro Israel and his wife but they later left the house that same day

“Rachael took me to a room when I got to the house. The following morning, the bishop came out of his room and laid history hands on my head, and started praying for me at the dining section after I had greeted him.

“I went inside the room to start preparing for Osogbo and he told me there was food in the kitchen that I should help myself.

“I was eating in the dining when he came to meet me again and asked if I am menstruating’ I said no and he went back to his room.

“I did not see Rachael in the morning even though we slept together in the same room,” she said.

The alleged survivor further told the court that the defendant came to meet her that he had an instruction for her and that he wanted her to hear it by herself.

She narrated that there are two portraits of one Prophet Babajide David Olulana on Bishop Feyi’s living room whom he told me was his spiritual father.

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“Bishop Feyi told me to carry one of the portraits and stare at it so that I can hear the instruction myself which I did.

“After a while, he came out of his room again and asked me if I heard anything, I told him no he then said that the portrait was talking to me but I cannot receive it.

“He said his father will use another means to speak with me and left him room again. I got a text message on my phone with the sender showing Babajide. I could not call the number back but the message read ‘whatever your father asks you to do, do it, it is for your good’ then he came out and asked if I had received any sign and I told him I got a message. He said I should delete the message.

“Bishop Feyi told me while I was born; my aunt did something to me that prevented my progress in life.

“He said the instruction he received was for him to help me so that I can be free from my aunt. He then said there are times he receives very difficult instructions but he has to do it.

“I asked what the instruction was and he said the instruction was for him to have sex with me. I was confused at this point. His eyes already changed and he told me to go to his room.

“When I got there, the two portraits of Prophet Babajide were on the bed. He was playing a Christian song titled ‘let praises rise’ on his phone.

“He pushed me on the bed, I tried to shift away but he pulled me back as I was already naked.

“While Bishop Feyi was speaking in tongue and I was saying amen, he was having sex with me,”

The witness further told the court that the defendant threatened her she would die if she told anyone.

She further told the court she went back to Oshogbo where he met one Jide who wanted to have a relationship with her and also rented N100, 000 apartment for her.

“Out of excitement that the instructions Bishop Feyi talked about has started manifesting; I called him (Feyi) and told him about Jide

He told me to come to Lagos and when I arrived, he collected my phone and started chatting with Jide using words like ‘dear’ for him and told him to send the N100,000 to my account.

“Jide sent the money but Bishop Feyi told me to forward the money to his account thereafter.

“Then he told me he had an instruction that he should have sex with me. This time around, he did not play any Christian songs. He put a portrait of Prophet Babajide on the bed and had sex with me again. This second time, I did not object.

“He then told me I should not go back to Osogbo and that he is not releasing me yet. I did not tell anyone about the sex escapades because I did not want to die,” she said.

The witness further told the court that she was able to leave the defendant’s house, leaving her clothes behind after she told Rachael that her mother was sick and she needed to see her.

She also said that she chatted with Brother Isaac and informed him that she was not happy with her life and Isaac, in return, told her to speak with pastor Busayo.

“When I got to Brother Busayo’s place in Ilorin, he told me the reason he left the church was that he found out that the ladies were not always happy after the church programme.

“So we reported the case at a police station in Ilorin. The policemen came from Ilorin to arrest Bishop Feyi in Lagos.

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“At this time I started feeling strange in my body and I did a pregnancy test which confirmed that I was pregnant but I lost the pregnancy in an accident that occurred on one of my trips from Ilorin to Ibadan

“Bishop Feyi was initially remanded in Ilorin and then police began their investigation but he was later released and got back to Lagos to report me and Pastor Busayo.

“The police arrested Busayo and I for hate speech but when I narrated everything that happened to the senior police officer at Alagbon, he said they should arrest Bishop Feyi instead,” the witness said.

The first prosecution witness, (name withheld) had earlier told the court under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr. Adebayo Adegbite said that the defendant never made a pass at her before the alleged sexual encounter

The first witness also said that she was a law student of Adekunle Ajashin University in Akugba Akoko and that she did not report the case to the police immediately after she left the defendant’s house.

She added she was under her parent’s care but living in school at the time of the alleged incident.

The court subsequently adjourned the case until May 25 for the continuation of trial.