A coalition of women rights activists campaigning under the hashtag #ChurchTooMovement, have defied the unusual heavy presence of armed police officers on Sunday morning, and marched on the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) church in Lagos, calling for the prosecution of the Founder of COZA, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, for alleged rape. But the presence of the heavily armed policemen deterred the protesters, chanting “No to Rape” from moving close to the church. A similar protest was staged in Abuja.
The protests followed a flyer and notice of protest which were circulated on twitter and other social media platforms by two of the conveners; Bukola Shonibare and Jennifer Okojie, who said the protests were designed to say enough is enough. “It is not just in COZA that this is happening. There are several churches, where men placed in position of authority have taken advantage of their subjects. For us, we are saying one key thing that enough is enough.
“From the stories that have been coming out, it shows a particular pattern of abuse of one taking advantage of position. If we allow this to continue without ensuring that Fatoyinbo and other pastors involved in this act are held accountable, that means we are setting up our children, girls and women for abuse. “We believe that responsibility must be placed where it belongs. We want to raise awareness about this act of Pastor Fatoyinbo and other pastors involved to know that Nigerians are now watching. We will not keep quiet. We also want the Church to take a decision regarding the fact that there have been allegations,” Shonibare noted.
Shonibare who is also the founder of Girl Child Africa, lamented that members and former members of COZA had accused the pastor of sexual abuse. Fatoyinbo was alleged to have raped Busola Dakolo, a celebrity photographer and wife of Nigerian singer Timi Dakolo, when she was 17 and a choir member in the church. The pastor has denied any wrongdoing, saying that he never raped anyone. But the women rights activists told Huhuonline.com that there were over 30 alleged victims who will testify against Fatoyinbo and are demanding the immediate resignation of the pastor as leader of COZA to allow for proper investigations.
“This is about all the rape victims; particularly about those that have been raped in churches. Pastors are enjoying immunity because they are pastors, because they run the church,” said Mercy Makinde, a rights advocate and founder of Amazing Amazon Initiative, an anti-rape and women empowerment group. Makinde urged other women that may have been molested by Fatoyinbo to reach out to her group with her evidence for possible litigation.
In Abuja, protesters bearing placards with different inscriptions converged at the NNPC filling station in Guzape from where they marched towards the church but were blocked by security agents. They demanded that the leadership and the Board of COZA open an immediate investigation into the rape allegation and that Fatoyinbo step down from any leadership role in COZA while the investigation lasts.
The protest in Abuja was met with a pro-Fatoyinbo protest. But it is doubtful that those in the pro-Fatoyinbo crowd were members of the church or hired crowds for public relations.
Despite his denial of the rape allegations against him, the groundswell of possible legal action against Pastor Fatoyinbo may take shape in the coming week. The details shared by Busola in the four-part videos published by YNaija on Friday morning have earned support from Nigerians, including politicians, celebrities and civil society organizations, one of which will reportedly file a class action lawsuit against Fatoyinbo in the coming week.
Busola said in 2000, she was a 16-year-old teenager when Fatoyinbo allegedly raped her twice within a week, first at her parents’ house and later at a secluded spot in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. Fatoyinbo said Busola was a member of the church at the time she said the rape happened, but insisted he never raped her or anyone else.
“I have never in my life raped anybody even as an unbeliever and I am absolutely innocent of this,” said Fatoyinbo in an unsigned statement posted to his Instagram account on Friday evening. In his response to the allegations, Fatoyinbo said Busola’s allegations were “fallacious,” “non-existent” and threatened to sue her and her husband.
That threat was countered by Busola’s husband Timi Dakolo and Nigerians who promised to establish a legal defence fund for her. “I have seen Biodun Fatoyinbo’s statement. I look forward to him carrying out his threat to sue Busola Dakolo,” tweeted Dr. Joe Abah, a former director-general of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms and current country director of DAI. “As Mrs. Dakolo doesn’t have a church that can fund her defence, I have set aside a little money to contribute to her defence. Please do so too.” Dr. Abah’s tweet elicited a flurry of promises of financial support for Busola legal defence.
The legal battles and their fallouts may define how Nigerians treat rape allegations, especially those involving high-ranking individuals. Already, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Saturday condemned any case of rape in strong terms, saying it doesn’t matter who is involved. Rev Samson Ayokunle, CAN President, who gave the condemnation via a text message to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), 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 Pastor Fatoyinbo. But he confirmed that the association had reached out to the Christian wing which Fatoyinbo belongs to ascertain truth of the matter and take necessary actions. ”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,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fatoyinbo’s wife, Modele Fatoyinbo, Sunday said the rape allegations against her husband were untrue. “Not even as an unbeliever will my husband rape someone,” Mrs. Fatoyinbo said during the church service broadcast and monitored from inside the Lagos branch of the church in Ikeja, Lagos. But Pastor Fatoyinbo stopped his wife from talking further about the rape allegations. Modele’s denial of the allegations is a re-echoing of her husband’s denial statement.
In a related development, the embattled Fatoyinbo has cancelled the church’s upcoming week-long program as protests seeking his dismissal gather momentum. The event tagged “7DG” which 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 #PastorStepDown 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.
Mrs. Dakolo is the second high profile person after Ese Walter to accuse Fatoyinbo of rape.
