You may have read about the so-called “Bishop” Oluwafeyiropo Daniel, the founder of I Reign Christian Ministry, Ikota, Lekki. He was accused of raping an assistant pastor in his house at Ikota, sometime last year. After that allegation was reported to the police, two previous victims came out to report the same. I’ll bet there are more in the wings too scared to come out either because they will be stigmatised or they would not be believed or the trouble of having to bribe police over this matter sometimes just makes you lose morale.
But let’s dwell on the victims so far recorded. It was reported that Bishop Daniel raped them to the point where they bled! He didn’t just rape them once but several times…
Ha, Pastor…I mean Bishop! Shame on your pulpit!
What sermon do you preach when you mount?
Do you tell your victims you have come to save them from their sins?
Do you assure them your seed is holy and so they should neither tell it on the mountains nor report to the media?
One victim, an 18 year old at the time the rape happened, reported that she passed out from the brutality of the rape. One report even said the Bishop would sulk if his victims showed signs of distress or anger at his assault!
This leaves you speechless!
But you see, Bishop Daniel counted on his victims remaining speechless. He counted on them being too enamored and too afraid of his larger-than-life image to rat him out. Bishop had picked women he thought would be too gullible to find his advances unattractive. He preyed on victims who will accept his molestation of them as a “holy rape,” something they ought to be happy about instead of complaining.
He must have got away with this for long, this Bishop Daniel. He must have found ways to select people who have no voice. People who are cowed to silence by brute force or by subtle threats, like the police demanding a bribe before rape is documented. Bishop could also have raised “elders” in the church to “speak” to families of “troublesome” victims. He must have had a few silenced, reminding them of the shame and stigma that comes from being a victim of rape.
This is one that won’t go away
“Let’s just forget about it. Let’s move on, he will meet his own wahala in front…” they would have consoled themselves overtime.
But this one victim said, “no.” Another came forth, too like Lazarus from the dead. She also reported that she had been drugged by the Bishop before he raped her.
This Bishop will not die well,o!
It’s not just alarming that the Bishop wasn’t immediately taken behind bars since the report. He wasn’t locked in a cell especially as investigations have long been concluded and legal advice issued since December of last year. It’s curious that the legal advice wasn’t released neither did the so-called Bishop show up in earlier court in April. The police is reported to have said that when the team visited his Ikota home in Lagos, the Bishop had relocated.
Ok, so why didn’t the police dispatch a rapid team to Abuja to bundle the criminal Bishop back to Lagos? I know that had the Bishop been some hard-working everyday Joe with no money or connections, the police would’ve been masturbating over his forceful removal back to Lagos!
But anyway, thanks to the Lagos state government, “Bishop Rape” has been arraigned and held in Lagos. Let’s also remember to thank the investigating team at Punch, they made public the legal advice that somehow remain hidden for months allowing the Bishop to continue to parade himself as a prophet.
Daniel is now in the den among human lions. They will rip him apart. He is in a den where degenerates like him are kept away from civil society.
Now, his perverted Bible skills as a Bishop will be put to use, in jail.
I hope the justice system makes an example of charlatans like Bishop Oluwafeyiropo Daniel. Here’s also hoping more victims will be emboldened to come out and tell their stories. I hope he spends the rest of his deceitful life in jail.
I hope the victims get justice and even if there are more still hiding, knowing the Bishop is finally behind bars will help them heal.
Bishop Oluwafeyiropo Daniel doesn’t belong behind the pulpit, he belongs behind bars.
Let’s hope the police who have been holding brief for him will let justice be served. For now, much of the confessions/evidence against him are said to be “missing” from his file. The Investigating Police Officer should ordinarily have some questions to answer. For now, one can only hope that, at the end of the day, justice is truly served.