A 55-year old Pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church, Adetunji Obatayo, has been arrested and charged in Ondo State for allegedly defiling a 14-year old girl, Impregnating her in the process and inducing three abortions.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the Police charged the suspect, Obatayo, who is also the principal of a school in Oka Akoko, for defilement, unlawfully prescribing drugs for abortion and killing an unborn child of the victim in his custody.
He was charged before the Akure Magistrate Family Court in Ondo State and remanded at the Olokuta Correctional Centre for the alleged dastardly act.
The Presiding Magistrate, B.A. Alphonso, who did not take the plea of the defendant, ordered that he should be remanded in custody and directed the prosecutor to duplicate the file send it to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.
The Police prosecutor, Folashade Adesuyi, told the Court that Obatayo committed the offence sometime in February 2020 at Epinmi-Akoko, Akoko South-East Local Government area of Ondo State, by forcefully having carnal knowledge of the victim, who was a student of his school and had been in his custody since she was 10 years till date.
The prosecutor also alleged that the defendant unlawfully prescribed contraceptive drugs for the victim to abort the pregnancy and in the process killed the unborn child of the victim.
The offences, according to the charge, contravened Sections 218, 230 and 328 of the Criminal Laws of Ondo State, 2006.
The prosecutor said that the victim’s confession led to the arrest of the defendant.
While addressing the Court, the victim said her parents released her in 2020 to the defendant, who is the principal of her school in Oka-Akoko, when she was just 10 years old.
She told the Court that her guardian, Obatayo, had been having intercourse with her since then.
“Four years ago, my parents released me to live with a Pastor due to his desire to train me. On my first day in his house, he forcefully had sexual intercourse with me and told me not to tell anyone about it,” she narrated.
“He had impregnated me thrice and he gave me N5,000 to buy some contraceptive drugs to abort the pregnancy after many preventive drugs
But during the third pregnancy, he refused to give me money for the drug, and I stole his money to buy the pills.”
“Pastor later accused me of stealing his money to give to my boyfriend, which later led to the arrest of a boy in our school and I informed my parents about my ordeal.”
The matter was adjourned till 29th August, 2024, for the report of the DPP’s advice to be ready, which will determine if the matter will be transferred to the High Court or not over jurisdiction.