One Tayo Shobowale has been arrested by men of Ogun State Police Command for raping a 17-year-old girl in the state.
The victim is a member of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Oke-Igbala where Shobowale is said to be a prophet in the Ifo area of the state, the police said on Thursday.
Abimbola Oyeyemi, the Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun, confirmed the arrest of the 50-year-old suspect in a statement.
He noted that the suspect was apprehended following a report lodged at the Family Support Unit of the Police Area Command in Otta by the victim.
Accompanied by her mother to the station, the victim reported that the prophet invited her to the church for prayer sometime in March 2021.
He was alleged to have taken advantage of the victim being alone with him in the church and forcefully had carnal knowledge of her.
After the illicit affair, according to the victim, the prophet ordered her to take a spiritual bath in the church with a spiritually prepared candle, which he used to rub her body.
“Since then, the victim complained that she has been having spiritual attacks which always make her fall down and remain unconscious for hours.
“Upon the report, the Area Commander Ota, ACP Muhideen Obe, detailed his Family Support Unit to the scene where the randy prophet was promptly arrested,” the statement read.
On interrogation, the suspect was said to have initially denied the allegations but could not absolve himself of the allegations when he was confronted by the victim.
Condemning the incident, the Commissioner of Police in Ogun, Edward Ajogun, ordered a thorough investigation of the case.
He also directed that the suspect be charged to court as soon as the investigation was concluded.
