A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced Prophet Ajiboye Olayinka, General Overseer of the Land of Joy and Prayer Ministry in Agah, Ganmo, Ifelodun Local Government Area, to life imprisonment for raping three minors within the church’s mission house.
Justice H.A. Gegele also handed Olayinka an additional 14-year sentence for carrying out illegal abortions on several pregnancies involving the victims. The court however acquitted him on a separate charge of bigamy, finding the evidence on that count insufficient.
The convict bagged three life imprisonment penalties for three different offences bordering on unlawful sexual intercourse with 13-year-old minors, all committed inside the church’s mission house where he served as spiritual leader.
The three victims, identified in court as PW3, PW4, and PW5, testified that the self-styled prophet lured them into his mission house, anointed their private parts with oil, and forced himself on them. They also told the court that he made them swear an oath of secrecy on a Bible, threatening to kill them should they ever disclose the abuse.
The court also heard that the prophet repeatedly impregnated some of the victims and forced them to terminate the pregnancies while threatening them against revealing the abuse to anyone.
Olayinka faced an eight-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy, unlawful sexual intercourse with minors, illegal abortion, and unlawful possession of firearms, contrary to Sections 97, 235 and 283 of the Penal Code, Section 3(1) of the Robbery and Firearms Act 2004, and Section 31(2) of the Kwara State Child Rights Law 2006.
The conviction followed investigations initiated by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kwara State Command, through its Gender Unit after the arrest of the suspect in May 2024 over allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation of underage victims in Agah Village, Ilorin South Local Government Area.
Upon conclusion of investigations, the matter was transferred to the Kwara State Ministry of Justice for prosecution.
In his judgment, Justice Gegele held that the prosecution had successfully proved the offences of unlawful sexual intercourse with minors, rape, and illegal abortions beyond reasonable doubt. He described the convict as “a paedophile and philanderer whose conduct should be deprecated by all and sundry in society.”
The judge further ordered that a pump-action gun recovered from the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government.
