For allegedly raping underage children of his members, a prophet Elisa Ayoluwa alias White has been arrested by the police in Lagos.
Ayoluwa, the founder of Zion Prayer and Deliverance Mission in Ikotun, was alleged to have aborted several pregnancies from one of his victims, a 15-year-old girl, with the help of a woman known as Iya Titi.
It was gathered that the man was arrested on Friday morning after a woman whose six-year-old daughter (names withheld) refused pleas from church elders that the matter be swept under carpets.
It was gathered that it was the woman who took the case to a Childโs Right Advocate Mrs. Precious Ndukwu who notified the police at Ikotun.
The mother, who spoke to newsmen, said that the prophet offered her N5, 000 to keep quiet on the incident, adding that other parents accepted the money.
According to the woman, she usually took her child to the church premises to stay with other kids whenever she was going to work.
She said: โI used to have a job that kept me busy. I will leave home early and wonโt return till about 11pm.
โSo, I usually took her to the prophetโs place and would go and pick her at night. Other children used to come there too to play.
โBut along the line, I noticed that whenever I wanted to take her there, she would cry and say she does not want to go.
โI did not know anything was happening to her until one Sunday in church, a member called me aside and she told me to go and check my daughter.
โBy this time, rumour has been going round that the prophet was sexually molesting children and teenagers.
โSo, I took my daughter to a nurse and she examined her and said she has been penetrated.
โThat was how I started asking her questions and she said it was the prophet that he usually molested her and that the day he raped her, he used clothe to clean the blood. She said he even told her not to tell anyone.โ
According to Mrs. Ndukwu, the kid was taken to Mirabel Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) after her motherโs complaint and it was established that she has been violated.
She said her findings also revealed that the prophetโs alleged rape of minors was common knowledge in the neighbourhood, wondering why the other parents chose to remain silent about it.
โUpon investigation we discovered that he has a particular woman known as Iya Titi that helps him abort for a particular child any time she is pregnant. The church members are aware of his behaviour and he has been going round begging each of the childโs parents.
โHe has given N5, 000 to the mother of the child that he committed abortion for and she accepted to let peace reign. He remarried recently and so, I donโt know if his new wife was aware before now.
โThe parents of the other victims refused to follow us to the police station to make their statement but the mother who refused the money did and the prophet was arrested.
โWe expect the police to compel the other parents to come forward and state what they know.
โThey need to be made to understand that keep quiet in this matter was a crime and they could be charged as accomplices,โ she said.
Police spokesman Bala Elkana confirmed the suspectโs arrest, adding that he denied the allegation.
โThe parents of the victim took her to the pastorโs house to be there temporarily when they went out for a programme.
โThe act was suspected to have happened during that time. The pastor denied the allegation. We await medical report,โ Elkana said.
