A Kwara State High Court in Ilorin has sentenced the founder of Mission House of Divine Land of Joy and Prayer Ministry, Prophet Ajiboye Abayomi Olayinka, to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of repeatedly raping three underage members of his congregation within the church premises.
The convict, who served as General Overseer of the ministry located in the Agah area of Ganmo, received the life sentence for three separate counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with 13-year-old girls under his spiritual care.
Justice Hammed Aliyu Gegele, who delivered the verdict on Wednesday, also handed Olayinka an additional 14-year prison term for procuring illegal abortions for his victims and threatening them into silence.
The judge described the clergyman as “a paedophile and philanderer whose conduct should be deprecated by all and sundry in society,” saying he exploited his religious authority to turn the minors into what the court called sex machines, inflicting both physical and psychological damage on them.
Testimony before the court revealed that Olayinka lured victims to the church’s generator house where he sexually assaulted them, using anointing oil as lubricant, and would also wake them after night vigils to abuse them further.
Victims told the court he administered anointing oil on their private parts in a ritual-like manner before assaulting them, and compelled each girl to swear on the Bible, warning that death would follow if they ever spoke out.
The prosecution, led by Chief State Counsel Issa Zakari, called 12 witnesses and tendered exhibits during the trial.
Olayinka was arraigned on an eight-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy, unlawful sexual intercourse with minors, illegal abortion, and unlawful possession of firearms.
While the court upheld the charges of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, and illegal abortion, it discharged Olayinka on the count of bigamy, holding that the prosecution failed to establish that particular offence.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of a pump-action gun recovered from the convict to the Federal Government.
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