A flurry of scandals hit Delta State men of the pulpit, as the police arraign flamboyant pastors, Valentine Osezie and Daniel Ololo for sexual assault and child trafficking, among other offences
By Chinedu Oguh, Port Harcourt
Delta State has been rocked by an explosive clergy scandal as police formally arraigned flamboyant founder of Omega Prophetic Prayer Ministry, Pastor Daniel Ololo on a 12-count charge of rape, defilement, sexual assault and exploitation.
The charismatic Sapele-based preacher once celebrated for miracle crusade that drew thousand now faces allegations t of preying on vulnerable female congregants, including the rape of a 17-year old minor and the coerced sexual exploitation of her two elder sisters.
Police Public Relations Office (PPRO) of the state Command, SP Bright Edafe, a Superintendent of Police (SP) disclosed that Ololo’s arraignment followed a two-month investigation described by authorities as uncovering “a systematic web of manipulation and abuse masked as spiritual guidance”
Tentacle sources revealed that the scandal began when a petition reached the office of Delta State Commissioner of Police (CP) Abaniwonda Olufemi after the complaint alleged that the cleric used fake prophecies and spiritual blackmail to lure three sisters, who are active members of the Church into repeated sexual assaults.
Police investigation also revealed that the pattern was clear that Ololo, used visions of danger, curses, ancestral spirits and divine instructions as psychological weapons to hoodwink and force the victims into sexual compliance
A police dossier describes how the girls were targeted in separate sessions spanning months. Forensic tests later confirmed that the youngest 17-year-old suffered both physical trauma and a sexually transmitted infection linked directly to the suspect.
At a press briefing in Asaba, SP Edafe was blunt: “The medical guidance is irrefutable. This was not spiritual guidance, it was calculated predation”.
Raids on the church premises uncovered encrypted messages, covered photos, and a logbook of suspicious late-night “Prayer appointments” statements from church insiders indicate long standing rumors of impropriety, allegedly ignored due to the pastor’s influence.
Late last year, Pastor Ololo appeared before the Sapele Magistrate Court in what observers described as a dramatic fall from grace. Dressed in a plain agbada, the once flamboyant preacher pleaded not guilty.
Tentacle further gathered that his counsel, Barrister Ejiro Oghene, attempted to argue that the incidents were misinterpreted spiritual exercises, but the magistrate rejected the submission, ordering the pastors immediate remand to Warri Correctional Centre pending trial.
With the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) insuring a Swift go-ahead, the matter has now moved to high court in Asaba where Justice Ebere Okonjo is presiding.
Tentacle further learnt that the three sisters are now under state protection and receiving trauma therapy in a secure location. The family, long devoted to the ministry, is said to be devastated.
Advocacy groups, including Behind Barr have weighed in and strongly condemned the “institutional rot” that allowed such abuses to persist “This goes beyond one man. Our churches must be held to a higher standard of accountability”.
Sapele, once a stronghold of Ololo’s influence, is engulfed in shock, disappointment and outrage. Former supporters have abandoned the church.
Some human right groups are calling for sweeping reforms including mandatory background checks for clergy internal church safeguarding systems and invoke legal penalties for religious leaders who happen to abuse spiritual authority.
Meanwhile, the Delta State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has released a rare public apology and pledged institutional reforms.
Report indicates that findings suggest possible accomplices and deeper networks of exploitation. Police however, stressed that the investigation remains active even as the high court prepared a trial.
For the victims, the read to justice is only the beginning. The eldest sister was reported as saying: “He told us God chose us for this trial. But we choose the truth. For ourselves and for every girl who thinks she has no voice we rise.”
As the nation braces for what could become one of Nigeria’s most significant clergy abuse trials, the case of pastor Daniel Ololo stands as a stark reminder of the urgent need for accountability, transparency and safeguards within religious institutions.
In a related development, the Delta State Police Command has arrested an Agbarho-based cleric, Pastor Valentine Osezie, who parades himself as the General Overseer of Believer Praise Ministry, alongside his wife, over the alleged purchase of a two-month-old baby boy.
According to information from a family source, the baby’s mother, identified as Successful Rita, initially returned home without the child claiming that the infant was forcefully taken from her at gunpoint while she was riding in a commercial tricycle.
Tentacle sources pointed out that the woman was arrested after her husband, who was not satisfied with the woman’s account, reported the incident to the police at Ekpan.
The lady, who resides in Ugbokodo, Okpe Local Government Area of the state told her husband that the two month-old baby boy was abducted from her, claiming that the abductors left her and another child she was carrying.
Suspicious of his wife’s account, the husband, who is not the father of the other child the lady brought home and impressed it on the police to investigate the matter.
However, investigations by the police reportedly uncovered inconsistencies in the woman’s account. During the interrogation, she admitted that the baby was not kidnapped but was sold to pastor Osezie and his wife for N1.5 million.
Acting on the confession, police operatives moved swiftly and successfully recovered the infant, bringing the case to a turning point, just as Rita, Pastor Osezie and his wife are being held in police custody as investigations continue.
