The Ogun State Police Command has said it would prosecute a pastor, Adeleye Dada, who allegedly raped the teenage daughter of one of his church members (identity undisclosed) in the Gasline area of Ifo Local Government Area of the state.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, disclosed this to PUNCH Online in a telephone interview on Monday.
Odutola stated that the teenage girl had allegedly gone missing from home on January 8 and every attempt by her mother to locate her proved abortive.
Dada was said to have taken the girl to another church away from his church where he had told the pastor of the said church that the girl was observing a prayer that required her to stay in the church.
The mother, Joke Adekunle, while narrating the incident in a video shared by the PPRO, said that her daughter had gone missing when she scolded her for wrongdoing and as a way of punishing her for the offence, she barred her from going to the shop with her.
Adekunle narrated further that when she returned home, she discovered that her daughter’s books were scattered on the ground and some of her clothes were missing, indicating that she had used her school bag to pack clothes before absconding from home.
Adekunle said she immediately called her pastor to inform him of what was happening but the pastor did not take the calls after several attempts which he blamed on his faulty phone. She added that on the day her daughter went missing, the pastor was at her house in the morning when she was scolding her daughter and he even rebuked her for placing curses on her.
She added, “My pastor also joined in searching for her during the period we were searching for her. His wife also supported us in the search. It was some days ago that she called and confessed to us that she was abducted by the pastor.”
When interrogated by the PPRO, the victim disclosed that the clergyman has been raping her since 2021.
She said that on the day of the incident, the suspect took her to an uncompleted building where he carried out the act.
In her reaction, Odutola noted that an investigation was ongoing on the matter and the pastor would be prosecuted upon the conclusion of the investigation.
She, however, warned parents against granting uncensored access to mobile phones to their teenage children, stressing that such access was contributing to rising cases of teenage rape.
“The teenager was taken to an unknown place where she was allegedly raped and as you can see, she has protruded belly. Upon receiving the report, the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, ordered a manhunt for the suspect and he was immediately arrested. The CP has ordered a discrete investigation into the matter and the suspect will be arraigned upon the conclusion of the investigation . “Parents need to be deliberate in their parenting, especially with the use of phones. Our experience has shown that most of these teenage girls fall victim to their predators through social media and uncensored access to mobile phones,” Odutola said.
