Bianca Iboma-Emefu
Sixteen years after, a retired air hostess has alleged that she was raped by a cleric in Ogun State.
Yemi Ogunfadewo is accusing Pastor Adebayo Ogundipe of Calvary International Christian Centre in Ijoko Lemode, Sango-Ota, Ogun State, of taking advantage of her and sexually violating her in his hotel room in 2003.
She told the reporter that she was in her early 20s when she met the man of God on a flight from Lagos to Abuja. She recalled that it was in the course of their discussion that the pastor confided in her the hotel he intended to lodge in. She said she advised him to go for a less expensive hotel that had good facilities. She said that the place she recommended was close to her own house, and the cleric accepted.
Ogunfadewo stated that, a few hours after the pastor checked in, she decided to check on him to know how he was faring but, to her surprise, the man grabbed her and raped her.
“I became so embarrassed and I wept bitterly. I felt terrible when the incident occurred because I didn’t know that he would take advantage of my kind gesture. I left in annoyance and could not disclose what happened to me to anyone. I became devastated and traumatised. It left an emotional scar in my heart, which has become difficult for me to erase till date,” she said.
But reacting to the allegation, Pastor Ogundipe said the woman’s account was a pure attempt at blackmailing him. He said the entire allegation was like a plot in a drama being acted by Ogunfadewo to tarnish his reputation.
Ogundipe said, contrary to what the woman narrated, he had known the woman for long time. He said, in the course of their association, the woman once appealed to him to donate his sperm to her so that she could have a child.
“I have documents and audio recordings to authenticate what I am saying. At this point, she could call me names. This drama began between December 2018 and May 2019 because of an event that occurred. I don’t know why she is calling it rape when we were a couple.
“Everyone had a past life. I met her a long time ago. She could call me anything; it does not matter. I have documented evidence against her that she is conspiring against me and wants to misinform the public,” he said.
But the woman insisted that the pastor raped her. She said she needed to unburden her mind so that she could get justice, no matter how long ago it happened: “I saw my shame in my inability to share this encounter all these years. I didn’t want to be ridiculed because I felt degraded, so I decided to keep silent ever since. The truth is that I decided to blank out all this while. I tried hard to survive the period because what normally affects rape victims is trauma and depression.
“Another reason I couldn’t speak about it all these years was because something happened along the line. He kept calling me, apologising that his intention was to marry me, but I never listened to his plea.
“Then, a few years later, I ran into him again. He still asked for forgiveness and wooed me. I accepted him after some years because he was persistent. And, after much thought, we began dating.
“He visited me on many occasions in Abuja and I equally returned the same at his residence in Ikoyi, Lagos. But I never had any clue that he was married. There was no indication or trace to show that a wife was living with him in his house.
“While we were dating, we travelled out of the country and spent time together as lovers, yet he didn’t disclose his marital status. I met with some of his family members. At a time, he asked me to give him a loan of N4.5 million, which I obliged him.
“Each time we travelled, the expenses were on me because he would deceive me and cajole me into spending more. I became a spendthrift, but there were funds he requested that I lent him for specific purposes.
“Shortly after we returned from a particular trip, he asked me to lend him N1.5 million to buy a piano for his church. I gave him because he told me that he was cash-strapped. I gave him the money; I felt it was worth it since it was God’s work.
“After returning from our trip, I was in my house in Abuja when he informed me of his mother’s death and the family’s arrangement for the burial. He pleaded with me to lend him another N2 million for the ceremony. I did because he promised to refund every kobo that he was collecting from me and l believed him.
“I came to Lagos for the ceremony and I even bought souvenirs to be shared at the event without smelling a rat. I knew the mother very well and some other members of his family.
“After the burial, I was in my house in Abuja when I got a call from one woman who told me she was Mrs. Yinka Ogundipe and that she was the wife of the same Pastor Adebayo Ogundipe. After speaking with the woman, I broke down. I was left in great shock because of the high level of deception. I later found out that Mrs. Ogundipe lived away from her husband due to the nature of her job. She told me that the distance from her workplace to their house made her to get a small apartment in a place not far from her office. She said she would return home whenever she was not on duty. She didn’t know that her husband was taking advantage of her absence to have a relationship with me.”
Ogunfadewo said after the revelation from Mrs. Ogundipe, she confronted the pastor.
“But his defence was that the wife had cancer and that she was at the last stage, which he said was why he had the affair with me. I, therefore, broke up the relationship with him. I requested the money that I loaned him but he refused to pay me back.
“I have written several petitions to the Inspector-General of Police and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission but my case has not been attended to till date,” she said.
She added that, sometimes, the ill feelings might subside, and over time they could start having long devastating effects on the victims. She added that many rape cases were never reported, leaving the victims to suffer in silence.
“In my own case, for months I started experiencing some forms of psychological distress, but I tried to overcome it. As a victim, I now understand why for months or years rape survivors are at high risk of developing substance use disorders,” she said.