Lagos Bishop accused of rape spends weeks in prison.

Bishop Oluwafeyiropo Daniel of I Reign Christian Ministry, Lekki, a Lagos-based preacher accused of raping his followers, has not yet complied with the terms of his release on bail.

He was remanded by Judge Ramon Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offenses Court, Ikeja, and by Sunday (today), he would have been in custody for one week.

When the matter was called for arraignment on Monday, April 3, the pastor was scheduled to appear before the court, but he failed to do so.

The investigating police officer, ASP Yemi Temenu, reportedly told the police prosecutor, Mrs. Inumidun Solarin, that Daniel was not located at the address he left at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, prior to being granted administrative release.

Solarin assured the court that Daniel would appear in court, therefore the court postponed the arraignment until April 17.

Daniel was formally charged with two counts of rape last Monday when the court resumed.

He was given a bail bond in the amount of N20 million with two sureties, each of whom had to have real estate under the court’s jurisdiction.

Daniel was also had to turn in his passport, and Justice Oshodi postponed the case’s trial date to May 9.

Following that, the cleric was detained in the Kirikiri Custodial Center until the fulfillment of his bail requirements.

Daniel still needed to fulfill his bail conditions, a source at the Lagos State Command of the Nigerian Prisons Service told Newsmen.

“He is still in custody,” the source said.

One of the two females Daniel is accused of raping has claimed that some of the evidence she gave the police was missing from the case file.

The victim claimed that the case file did not contain voice recordings, photographs, witness statements from some of them, and the petition her attorney had written to the police.

She said, “We had a meeting with the prosecutors (after the arraignment) and they wanted to confirm the evidence we had. I told them some of the evidence I had and they asked why I did not give them to the police at the FCID. I said I did and asked if the voice recordings were not in the file and they said no.

“We gave the police a burnt disc and flash drive; the FCID said they were sufficient evidence. We paid for search warrants twice, both at the hospital and at his house, but there was no report of their search.

“The police also went to the hospital he (Daniel) took me to. They travelled down to investigate the doctor, but the report was not there. They came back and said the doctor confirmed I was in the hospital and they recorded some things and got some things from the doctor. The report of what happened was not in the file. What they have in the file are just chats and witnesses’ statements.”

The case may have been corrupted, the former assistant pastor claimed.

Niyi Ogundeyi, the FCID’s spokesperson, refuted the accusations and claimed that proper investigation had been conducted.

He said, “Nothing can be removed. She is just saying what she does not know. Presently, the case file is with the DPP, and they will analyse the case and call the IPO for further investigations and clarifications. A retired AIG (at the FCID) personally called the police prosecutor on the strength of available evidence. The police have been diligent in building a strong case. With the evidence on ground, the man cannot go scot-free.”

Remember that in 2022, while Daniel’s case was being handled by the FCID in Alagbon, Ikoyi, where two of the victims had recounted their experiences, our correspondent had been keeping an eye on it.

One of them worked as an assistant pastor for the church’s Ondo division.

The case file was transferred to the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions, where legal advice was issued on December 16, 2022.

The advice, which was exclusively obtained by our correspondent, stated in part, “Facts from the duplicate case file reveal that the suspect, Oluwafeyiropo Daniel, is a pastor and the founder of I Reign Christian Ministry; that he had a church branch in Akungba Akoko (Ondo) where he had young people as pastors and assistant pastors. It is also revealed that Oluwafeyiropo Daniel invites the branch pastors and assistants to his house from time for one reason or the other.

“It is revealed that Oluwafeyiropo Daniel having presented himself as his victims’ spiritual father whom they must be loyal to and must never hide anything from, including their bodies, lures the complainant and his other victim into having sexual intercourse with him.”

The Lagos judiciary assigned the matter to Judge Ramon in April 2023 after this paper published the legal opinion on March 18, 2023, which resulted in Daniel’s prosecution.

Daniel has persisted in denying the charges.