A Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on Wednesday sentenced the General Overseer of Mission House of Divine Land of Joy and Prayer Ministry, Prophet Ajiboye Abayomi Olayinka, to life imprisonment for sexually abusing three underage members of his congregation.
It was reported that Olayinka was convicted of three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with minors aged 13.
The offences were said to have been committed inside the church’s mission house in the Agah area of Ganmo where he was a spiritual leader.
The cleric was also sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for procuring illegal abortions for some of the victims and threatening them against reporting the abuse.
In his judgment, Justice Hammed Aliyu Gegele said the convict abused his position as a clergyman and subjected the victims to physical and psychological abuse.
The judge called him “a paedophile and philanderer whose conduct should be deprecated by all and sundry in society.”
Olayinka was arraigned on eight-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy, unlawful sexual intercourse with minors, illegal abortion and unlawful possession of firearms.
The charges were brought under the relevant sections of the Penal Code, Robbery and Firearms Act and Kwara State Child Rights Law, 2006.
During the trial the prosecution called 12 witnesses and tendered exhibits before court. Chief State Counsel, Issa Zakari, led the prosecution team.
Guns Confiscated by Court Order
Justice Gegele ruled that the prosecution had established the charges against the cleric of illegal sexual intercourse with minors, rape and illegal abortion.
The court however discharged him on the charge of bigamy as the prosecution failed to prove the allegation.
The judge also ordered that a pump-action gun found on the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government.
