Adetunji Obatayo, a 55-year-old pastor and school principal at the Deeper Life Bible Church, has been remanded in Akure Magistrates’ Family Court on charges of defiling a minor.
It was discovered that his victim, a 14-year-old student, became pregnant, and he obtained an abortion for her.
Obatayo was charged with three counts of defilement and unlawfully providing medications to induce abortion, resulting in the death of an unborn child. His pleadings, however, went unanswered.
He was accused of committing the crime sometime in February 2020 at Epinmi-Akoko, Akoko South-East local government area.
Folashade Adesuyi, a police prosecutor, told the court that the defendant had forced sexual contact with the victim.
According to the accusation, the acts violated sections 218, 230, and 328 of Ondo State’s Criminal Laws of 2006
Adesuyi noted that the defendant’s arrest resulted from the victim’s confession.
The victim stated in court that when she was 10 years old, her parents placed her under the guardianship of Pastor Obatala.
She informed the court that Pastor Obatayo had been having intercourse with her since then.
The presiding Magistrate, B.A. Alphonso remanded the defendant to the Olokuta Correctional Centre and instructed that the case file be referred to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for guidance.
The victim was ordered to be put in for rehabilitation until further notice, and the matter was adjourned for mention on August 29, 2024.
In a related report, the Edo State Police Command, said a pastor and one other have been remanded for allegedly dehumanizing and brutalizing Adishetu Atairu, the Chief Imam of the Ofukpo-Ekperi community in Edo State’s Etsako Central Local Government, as well as six others.
According to the Daily Post, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the suspects’ arrest to journalists in Benin City on Thursday.
According to him, “The incident is confirmed, the police are aware of it. The Pastor and one other person have been arrested and they are in police custody. The suspects have been charged to court.”
The victims’ alleged dehumanization and brutalization were captured on video and went viral on WhatsApp and Facebook.
The clip, which depicted a throng at night, was believed to have been led by a man simply known as Pastor Sharp-Sharp.
In one of the viral clips, a young man, Adishetu Atairu, was shown brutalizing an elderly woman in her 90s, Musa Shaibu, the community’s Imam, and six others.
(PUNCH)