Busola Dakolo, wife of popular singer, Timi Dakolo, set the internet buzzing yesterday over on how she survived the trauma of an alleged rape ordeal she said she suffered in the hands of the founder of The Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, COZA, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo.
Mrs Dakolo made the allegation in a YouTube interview published yesterday by the channel, YNaija. Fatoyinbo According to her, while a member of the church, she was raped at two different times in a week by the pastor.
Mrs Dakolo alleged that the pastor raped her for the first time at her parent’s home and at another time in a secluded road path. She said the incidents occurred before she turned 18, adding that she was deflowered by the pastor. The alleged rape was said to have happened before she married. Fatoyinbo runs the Abuja headquarters of his church with his wife, Modele. According to Dakolo’s wife, Mr Fatoyinbo convinced her through gifts of books and cassette tapes to keep attending their club when she was back home from school. Narrating how she was raped for the first time, Mrs Dakolo said, “Fatoyinbo showed up at our house unannounced. It was a Monday morning, early and I was still in my nightgown. My mother had travelled with my sisters and were absent at service the previous Sunday. “He didn’t say a word, forced me onto a chair, speaking only to command me to do as he said. It took me a while to come to terms with what was about to happen, and it was why I didn’t struggle or make a fuss when he pulled down my underwear and raped me.” Speaking further, she said that he did not say anything after, as he left for his car and returned with a bottle of Krest and forced her to drink it, probably as some crude contraceptive. Continuing, she recalled what he said to her that “You should be happy that a man of God did this to you.” She said at this time, his wife had just given birth to their first child, Oluwashindara.
The interview surfaced online after her husband, Timi Dakolo, called out the pastor over his alleged sexual relationship with female church members, even as he encouraged other victims who have gone through the experience to speak up. Mrs Dakolo said she opened up because her husband put up a social media post on Instagram, accusing the Nigerian clergy of condoning rape and sexual assault. She said some people had approached her husband anonymously about the pastor targeting underage girls for sexual relationships and he felt obliged to publicly speak on their behalf. Mrs Dakolo also said she was motivated to speak up about her rape incident after a social media post from an anonymous account insinuated that she had been promiscuous as a teenager and had affairs with pastors when she lived in Ilorin and questioned the paternity of her children. Timi’s posts created intense backlash and support and sparked rumours about who the subject of his post was and who the victims were. Meanwhile, mixed-reactions have continued to trail Mrs Dakolo’s outburst, with some condemning her action while others saluted her courage to speak up. First to react was a top leader in the church and a devoted COZA member, Adewale Aladejana, who took to his Instagram page immediately to bash Timi Dakolo and his wife, for accusing COZA pastor, Biodun Fatoyinbo of rape. Mr. Wale, a popular Nigerian Entrepreneur, Evangelist, and CEO of Sapphire scents, said “I just watched @busoladakolo video. I know the world gets emotional the moment a woman mentions that she was raped but if you will take a minute to think objectively; the oldest way a woman can try to destroy a man is to accuse him of rape. Any man is guilty of this offence in the eyes of the public until otherwise and if she has a little social status like the wife of a struggling musician like @timidakolo, it makes it look credible.” “Why is she doing this? Timi and wife are a pawn in a conspiracy and also because it will help him sell some records which he desperately needs to sell, they will also trend for a while, she has already opened unbroken.ng, an online platform to cash in on the drama just like @esewalter and then it’s over! “I am a proud COZA member and @biodunfatoyinbo is my father and he has been a blessing to millions of people all over the world. This time there will be no silence and since you want war, you will have it. If @biodunfatoyinbo has been a blessing to you, it’s time to speak up, don’t keep quiet! “@timidakolo and @busoladakolo are not saints, she was a choir member and Timi was a choir leader in church when she got pregnant with her first baby, Timi denied that they weren’t having an affair and then she got pregnant the second time and that was when the church forced them to get married. This chorister was sleeping with her choirmaster and was a baby mama with two kids before they got married. These are morally bankrupt people and all that talk in the video will not hold water under cross-examination,” Wale fumed.
Also, reacting on her Instagram page, a lady commended Timi for standing by his wife in this trying time. “ My Instagram yard brother. I celebrate you, I celebrate your courage, I celebrate you for standing by your wife in this time. God has given you a voice that would be heard in the universe. You are man worth celebrating my dear brother. I doff my hat for you,” she wrote.
In his reaction also, Timi wrote “ Christianity is telling the truth everyone is afraid of telling.. everything else is religion..#unchained#truth#unbroken.” Reno Omokri, a former presidential aide to Goodluck Jonathan, while reacting, said Dakolo’s narration of how she was raped is not plausible, adding that Pastor Fatoyinbo is too ‘sleek to rape an underage girl’. According to him, though he does not like the COZA Pastor, the story does not add up and ‘rings false’. “I have never liked Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of Coza global for reasons that I will not say publicly. However, I am mature enough to divorce my emotions and be led by logic. And I counsel those now condemning him to do the same,” Omokri wrote: Some of the celebrities, who have hailed the lady for her courage include, Don Jazzy, Toke Makinwa, Nse Ikpe Etim, Wana Udobong, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu among others.
Rev. Dapo Daramola, a spokesman for the Methodist Church Nigeria would rather plead for caution because the story can be described in the realm of allegation which may not be true. Daramola who claimed to be a friend of Pastor Abiodun Fatoyinbo from their university days argued that he had lost touch with him of late, arguing that the Fatoyinbo he knew was a very reserved person and “I was not surprised when he opted for the Pulpit eventually.” Reminded that Mrs Dakolo was not the first reported incident of sexual molestation against the COZA presbyter, Rev. Daramola said he was not abreast of the earlier allegations and still hoped that the real truth would eventually emerge to vindicate his friend.
In a public statement released last night on his Instagram page, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo pledged his innocence. He declared that he was innocent of the rape allegations made against him by Busola, wife of popular singer, Timi Dakolo. Fatoyinbo said he had never raped anyone in his life, not even as an unbeliever. Captioning the press statement, “I have NEVER RAPED before, not even as an unbeliever!”, Fatoyinbo said “I am aware that there has been a recent media publication on YouTube by YNaija operated and owned by RED Media Group which shows an interview by Chude Jideonwo with Busola Dakolo. Reads the statement: “Prior to now, we had adhered to our policy of ignoring rumours from social media accounts as we knew that several statements had been made to extort the church of money and myself through blackmail, harassment and intimidation. We have refused time and again to accede to their request, which has infuriated them over time, because of this they have gotten more aggressive. “Unlike previous statements where innuendos were used and there was no direct mention of myself or the Church, the recent video released on YouTube has now made direct criminal allegations against me in the interview granted by Busola Dakolo which are fallacious, non-existent and which are all denied in every measure.” “As an individual and as a Church, we love and support people and we would never condone any form of abuse, harassment, or intimidation of anyone. I have never in my life raped anybody, even as an unbeliever and I’m absolutely innocent of this.
Abike Dabiri, the former aide to President Buhari, has weighed in on the ongoing heated scandal involving Busola Dakolo and Biodun Fatoyinbo. The ex-aide who seemed very disturbed and angry about the accusation shared a post on her Twitter page in which she professed her support for Busola Dakolo. She reminisced on how she supported the bill which prescribes life imprisonment for those who molest others. Abike Dabiri-Erewa —’ @abikedabiri · 9h @timidakolo , what can I say about your wife! A woman of strength, courage. We all, as women, must rise up and demand justice. I sponsored the violence against persons bill which prescribes life imprisonment for rape!!Busola, you’ve got my back !
