I’ve known our pastor since I was five years old.
He used to visit our house when I was young. He was a friend to my father and even when my father packed away from our house to marry another woman, Pastor was still coming to visit us and pray for my mother and us the children. So let’s just say, I’ve known him for 11 years. I don’t see him as a stranger.
The trouble started when I fell sick. My mother said maybe I had malaria, so she bought me some drugs from the chemist on our street but after taking the drugs for three days, I was still not feeling better so my mother then said I should go to the Health Centre at Randle. She always goes to Cotonou to buy frozen chicken every Wednesday that was why she couldn’t go with me to the hospital.
At the hospital, they told me I was to do a blood test and after waiting for many hours, I saw the doctor and they gave me some drugs and injection. That day, I vomited all the food in my stomach, even before I got my injection, one of the nurses then told me to buy Sprite before taking the injection. I did. I just felt like sleeping but I knew I had to get home. I was still standing at the bus stop not far from the health centre when I saw pastor coming. He asked me what I was doing there and I told him I was sick.
The pastor woke me up when the bus stopped. I was too sick to ask questions when he told me he was taking me for prayers. All I wanted to do at that time was just to sleep.
But the place he took me to was his house, though I didn’t know at that time. I just know that he put me in a room with a table and a bed. I went straight to lie down because I was too weak to sit up. He later brought me a plate of rice which I ate and slept off again. He kept telling me my enemies want to kill me but he would pray for me.
I woke up in the dark and felt as if a heavy weight was on my chest. I was struggling to push the weight off but I couldn’t. I wanted to shout for help but my mouth was stuffed with something, so I was struggling to free myself because apart from the load on my chest, all my body was as if fire was on it.
When it was morning time, I woke up and pastor was there, he told me I had started my menses and that I should go and clean up. I was surprised because I was naked and all my body was just aching me. I don’t know how long I was in the pastor’s house. I just know I woke up one time and saw the pastor lying on top of me and that was when I knew I was in trouble.
“Pastor! Pastor!” I was just shouting his name.
I suddenly realised what was happening to me and the first thing I thought about was ha, this is like an Africa Magic movie. Pastor has spoilt my life, he has spoilt my life for me, I was just crying.
I think some people in the house heard me crying and started banging on the door until pastor opened the door and I ran out. I was crying and one woman from the compound took me inside her room. She gave me her wrapper to cover myself and then she gave me a phone to call my mother.
My mother was crying when she came there and she said she had been looking for me for three days. We were both crying when I told her what happened.
So, the people in the compound now told my mother to go and report the pastor to the police but the pastor was begging my mother. He said it was the devil that pushed him. He was crying and begging my mother and saying he will repent that my mother should remember he has a new born baby, who will take care of her if he goes to jail?
My mother forgave him and was about taking me home but one of the women had gone to call an aunty from that centre where they help girls who have been raped, because, what the pastor did to me was rape.
That aunty came and took me to the hospital; they tested me and later brought me to the police station.
Now, the pastor is in detention.
-Compiled by Peju Akande