Oluwafeyiropo Daniels, yhe Bishop of I Reign Christian Ministry, Lagos, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his 23-year-old assistant (name withheld).
Justice Rahman Oshodi of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court also on Friday, January 26, sentenced Bishop Daniels to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old member of the church (count three of the four-count charge).
The judge held that the cleric should spend the rest of his life at the Kirikiri custodial facility, Lagos.
Oshodi held that prosecution established the ingredients of the two offences.
According to him, Daniels is a liar and does not have any regard for truth.
The judge, however, discharged and acquitted him on count two of the charge, which is rape of another member of the church (name withheld).
Oshodi held that there was an element of consent from the church member.
The judge also discharged and acquitted Daniels on count four of the charge, which is attempted rape of a member of the church.
Daniels faced an amended four-count charge bordering on rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.
Rape contravenes Section 260 (2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The assistant pastor had told the court how Bishop Daniels raped her while praying.
The alleged rape occurred at the cleric’s residence in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The woman told the court that the bishop told her to come to Lagos for laying of hands after the fasting.
She said: “On September 8, 2019, I told her (the assistant pastor) that 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 with in Lagos.
“She told me to call and tell Feyi that I had no one to stay with for the night, and I did.
“He said there was no problem, and this made me to follow him to his house with some other members, including Bro Israel and his wife, but they later left the house that same day.”
The survivor further told the court that the bishop came to her again and told her that he had an instruction for her but would want her to hear it herself.
“…Feyi told me that when I was born, my aunt did something to me which prevented my progress in life.
“He said the instruction he received was for him to help me so that I could be free from my aunt.
“I asked what the instructions were and he said the instruction was for him to have sex with me.
“I was confused at this point. His eyes had already changed and he told me to go to his room,” she stated.
She told the court that when she got there, the two portraits of Prophet Babajide were on the bed, saying: “He (defendant) was playing a Christian song with the title, ‘Let Praises Rise’ on his phone.
“He pushed me on the bed, I tried to move away but he pulled me back as I was already naked.
“While Feyi was speaking in tongue, he was having sex with me.”
The woman further told the court that the defendant told her she would die if she tells anyone about the alleged rape, adding that the bishop raped her on other occasions and she got pregnant for him but lost it to an accident on the Ilorin-Ibadan expressway.
