Just about one month after taking leave of absence, senior pastor of the Common Wealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo Sunday returned to the pulpit.
Fatoyinbo on July 1 announced his leave of absence from pulpit duties after he was accused of rape by Busola Dakolo, a celebrity photographer and wife of singer Timi Dakolo.
Bukola alleged that Fatoyinbo raped her twice in a week when she was still a teenager.
The allegations prompted hundreds of protesters to march on COZA premises in Lagos and Abuja, demanding the resignation and prosecution of the pastor.
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An obviously hired crowd also held a pro-Fatoyinbo march in Abuja. A protester told newsmen that he was given N10, 000 to stomp for the pastor.
Fatoyinbo denied ever raping Busola or any other person. His wife, Modele, also spoke in his defence.
“Not even as an unbeliever will my husband rape someone,” Mrs Fatoyinbo said during a Sunday service in June.
Fatoyinbo issued a statement saying he was taking “a leave of absence from the pulpit” to “submit to the concerns of (his) spiritual mentors”, and that he did not understand all that was happening.
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