A prophet in charge of Celestial Church of Christ in Osun State, Olukayode Omirin, has been remanded in Ilesa Custodial Centre for allegedly raping a lady who visited his church for deliverance.
Omirin, whose worship centre is located at Ona Iye Temple Cathedral, Olukayode Omirin Way, along Ijebu-Jesa road, opposite Lobtik Guests House Ijeda-Ijesa, Oriade Local Government Area of the state, was dragged to Ilesa Magistrate’s Court for alleged rape.
Prophet Omirin, also known as Dada, was arrested in January 2024 by the police for raping a 20-year-old lady who is a daughter to his neighbour in the area.
It was gathered that Omirin had cunningly arranged a deliverance session to deliver the lady with the knowledge of her parents, before he allegedly forced her to bed inside the church.
The Point learnt that the family of the lady, said to be a student of the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, has a cassava farm not far from the Celestial Church and on a certain day while they were on the farm, Omirin approached them and prayed for them after which he prophesied that their daughter would die on her next birthday because he saw in a vision that she is an “emere.”
“Emere” is a Yoruba word that means a human being believed to be a spirit and more powerful than witches, and most often die on a particular day of joy.
For this, the cleric informed the parents that their daughter needed to be delivered to save her from dying on January 20, 2024 when she turned 20 years.
The prophet had arranged for fasting and prayers three nights preceding her birthday, saying they must be done in the church, for total deliverance and avoidance of premature death.
The suspect also had instructed the parents to prepare a celestial garment popularly known as “sultana” for their daughter and withdraw from her any accessories like jewelry and telephone.
The mother of the victim had opted to perform the deliverance vigil with her daughter but the prophet disapproved of it on the pretense that it was against the spiritual instructions he received in his vision.
On January 4, which was the victim’s 20th birthday and the last night of the fasting and prayer, Omirin allegedly took the victim to a room within the church where he ordered her to pull off her clothes and underwear and lay down on a piece of cloth on the floor.
The victim explained that while she lay on the floor, the pastor started rubbing the anointing oil on her body and eventually pinned her down, covered her mouth and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her with the claim that it was the only way to break the bond between her and the claimed spirit
After the alleged act had been done, the lady said she ran out of the church with her blood-stained sultana as the prophet ran after her with a bottle containing an unknown substance which he intended to smear on her.
After the parents reported the incident at the Nigeria Police Divisional Headquarters, Ijebu-Ijesa, Omirin was arrested and later released on bail.
Omirin’s case was later transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department in Osogbo for further Investigation.
The Police have, however, arraigned the 47-year-old prophet on three count-charges bordering on unlawful rape.
The charge which was signed by the head of the Legal/Prosecution of CID in Osogbo, F. B. Osei, read, “That you Olukayode Omirin, on the 4th day of January, 2024 at about 9:00pm at ljeda-ljesa, Osun State, in the ljebu-ljesa Magisterial District, did unlawfully rape one (name withheld) and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 2(2) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law of Osun State 2021.
“That you Olukayode Omirin on the same date, time, place and in the aforementioned Magisterial District, did unlawfully take undue advantage of one (name withheld) who went to the Church for prayers and you sexually exploited her, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 32 of the Child’s Rights Laws of Osun State 2007.
“You did unlawfully and indecently assault one (name withheld) and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 360 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol. II, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria 2002.”
However, Omirin pleaded not guilty to the counts.
Attempts by his counsel, Olabode Gbadebo to convince the court to grant him bail failed as Magistrate Adedotun Ayeni ordered that Omirin be remanded in Ilesa Correctional Centre and transferred the case to Ijebu-Jesa court after Easter break.
