Busola is the wife of popular musician, Timi Dakolo.

She filed a suit against Fatoyinbo over alleged rape case which she said occurred about 20 years ago.

The group’s remark is contained in a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend by the Publicity Secretary of the organisation, Isaac Okonkwo, while congratulating the church and the pastor.

CPM said the verdict dismissing the case of alleged rape would increase COZA on all sides.

“We congratulate the Senior Pastor of COZA, his family, friends and the loyal members of the Church who refused to abandon the Church and the Pastor. The victory, no doubt, will help Pastor Fatoyinbo to do more for the Kingdom of God,” the group said.

It added:  “We learnt that there were pressure being mounted on members to leave the Church because of the claims which the judge described as “cruelty and injustice.”

The statement further affirmed the position of members of the church that they “have absolute confidence in our God-sent father, mentor, counsellor and great servant of God, Reverend Biodun Fatoyinbo.”

“You made a righteous choice to stand by him in the days of his adversity and the pains of public humiliations over claims which, according to the judge ‘carries more cruelty in them than justice’. We thank God for justifying His servant and for not allowing the will of the adversary to prevail over him and the huge heavenly ministerial assignment He entrusted in his hands,” CPM maintained.

The organisation which among other things advocated peace and unity of the Church in the country posited:  “From the beginning, we insisted against the earlier argument of his lawyers to have the case thrown out as a result of its ‘frivolous and borders on extreme wickedness’ because we wanted the whole case to be heard by all because we have been fully and firmly persuaded that Fatoyinbo, is innocent.

“We are however pleased the way the case eventually turned out with the Honourable Justice’s judgement saying ‘It is for the reasons I advanced herein before that I declare this action as a vehicle of injustice, judicial intimidation and thorough abuse of judicial process carrying in it an overload of dormant claims and injustice. It must and is hereby dismissed…’

“According to the Judge,  ‘…there is no escape route for the Claimant’s claims. They are all statute barred and the doors of this Temple of Justice are permanently shut against them. Forever and ever they can never be revived, litigated and/or ventilated.'”

The group added:  “We completely agree with the Pastor that this victory belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ and that he bears no grudge against those responsible for the trauma and public humiliations he and the Church suffered along with his immediate family. Our prayers include but are not limited to the healing of the wounds and genuine repentance of those who were used in one way or the other to attack the Church that our Lord Jesus Christ built with His precious blood.

The group said it was not unaware of the threat of Mrs. Busola Dakolo to take the rape case to a higher courts on appeal, but “counsel her to accept the historic verdict in good faith. To us it is a case of no vanquished and no winner. However, if she insists on appealing the matter, our God who delivered his Servant from the bear and lion shall surely deliver him from any Goliath that stands in his way in Jesus Name. We are against Christians taking themselves to court because it is not biblical and there are processes of reconciliation listed in the Bible. We are the Light of the world. We are in the world but not of the world. There are more persecution in the country than to be fighting ourselves.

“COZA is the Church of Jesus Christ and He has prayed that the gate of hell shall not prevail against her. The Church in Nigeria are marching on to victory over all forces of darkness in Jesus Name. Our God whom we trust will not fail us.”

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The decision came after the court sitting in Bwari, ruled on Thursday that the matter was filed out of time because the events that crystalized to form the cause of action took place 16 years ago.

The court presided over by Justice A.O Musa, also ruled that the claimant, Mrs Dakolo, had only six years within which to seek redress in court in line with the statute of limitation.

According to Musa, the matter amounted to injustice, and an abuse of judicial process as the case was empty and purely sentimental, adding that the case was aimed more at cruelty than obtaining justice.

The court also awarded costs of N1 million against Busola Dakolo and held that the fine should have been ten times more because the court’s time was wasted.

Mrs Dakolo who is also a celebrity photographer had accused Fatoyinbo of raping her when she was 17 years.

Fatoyinbo, however, denied the allegations stressing that he had never raped anyone before, ‘not even as an unbeliever’.

He eventually filed an objection and an affidavit at the court stating that Busola’s statements were concocted to embarrass, scandalise and ridicule Fatoyinbo.

Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi, lawyer to Busola Dakolo, in a statement issued on Thursday stated that the High Court had not exonerated Fatoyinbo from the alleged rape.

“While we acknowledge the time of the Court, we know in accordance with the Nigerian Judicial system that the Court’s decision is not final as it is glaringly contestable.

“For all intent and purposes and having seen several sponsored misleading reports in the media, we are duty bound to state that the court has not and did not exonerate Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo.

“As it stands, the substance of the matter has not received any judicial attention.

“Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo, through his lawyers, has only argued that the court should not allow the matter to proceed to trial because it is an event that occurred long ago and hence out of time.

“We shall therefore in this circumstance approach a superior court to intervene for a better appreciation, and take a more expansive view of the suit considering that the subject matter is one that is novel in our clime,” Olajengbesi said.

Source: NAN

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This came after Fatoyinbo filed an objection and an affidavit at the court reiterating that Busola’s statements were false and concocted to embarrass, scandalise and ridicule Fatoyinbo.

He argued that from the inception, she sought the attention of the media and press, and brought the civil action even while the Police’s investigation was ongoing.

According to Justice Oathman A. Musa in her judgment, the matter amounted to injustice, and an abuse of judicial process as the case was empty and purely sentimental, adding that the case was aimed more at cruelty than obtaining justice.

The court also awarded costs of N1,000,000 against Busola Dakolo and held that the fine should have been ten times more because the court’s time was wasted.

Dakolo had filed the suit against Fatoyinbo after she claimed that the COZA pastor raped her 20 years ago when she was 16 years in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Fatoyinbo denied the allegations and even took a break from the pulpit and later came back to ministration.

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This is as she urged the FCT High Court in Abuja to discountenance the Preliminary Objection filed against her case by Fatoyinbo.

Busola Dakolo made the plea while responding to the preliminary objection by Fatoyinbo insisting that she sued the pastor because of the continuous emotional injuries she had suffered as a result of the rape he committed.

News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Mrs Dakolo dragged Fatoyinbo to an FCT High Court for allegedly raping her on different occasions when she was a teenager about 20 years ago.

Dakolo in her suite claimed that the incident had continued to hunt and traumatize her and as such required justice to be discharged through the law court.

The court in a writ of summons dated September 6 had ordered the pastor to appear before it within 14 days of the service or judgment may be given in his absence.

However, the pastor through his lawyer, Mr Alex Izinyon, SAN, tried to discharge the suit by filing a preliminary objection dated September 20, saying that the case was filed out of time and the court could no long hear the matter again.

Responding to Fatoyinbo’s preliminary objection, Busola Dakolo through her lawyer, Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi, argued that the action was not statute-barred (filed out of time) and that it was predicated on continuous injury which was an exception to the Statute of Limitation.

She noted that the argument that her suit was filed out of time was misconceived and an attempt to hoodwink the court from the main issue and evade justice.

“My cause of action is predicated on a continuing injury which I have continued to suffer over a long period of time,” she said.

Busola Dakolo urged the court to discountenance Pastor Fatoyinbo’s Preliminary Objection to the case and asked that he submit himself to court to ensure justice.

She prayed the court not to allow the defendant run away from justice by hiding under the cloak of statute of limitation, noting that emotional distress was a tort that could not be quantified by time.

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Busola, wife of popular musician, Timi Dakolo, has accused Fatoyinbo of raping her when she was a teenager.

The case is already in court.

But in a statement signed by the Executive Senior Assistant to the Senior Pastor, COZA, Ademola Adetuberu, the church accused the “agent of darkness” envious of the achievements of Fatoyinbo of sponsoring the attack on him.

The church warned that except they desisted, God would visit his vengeance on them.

“We therefore urge those sponsoring these evils to desist however if they do not, the God of vengeance will visit them. They should let Rev. Biodun Fatoyinbo continue freely with his divine mandate that our Lord Jesus Christ gave him. It is ungodly and sinful to be used by satan against the anointed,” the church warned.

The church said it did not support rape and was convinced that Fatoyinbo did not rape Busola.

Below is the full statement issued by the church:

COZA Does Not Support Rape

1. As a result of the recent unprovoked satanic campaign of calumny orchestrated against the leadership and members of our church, Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) by agents of darkness, the church would like to break its silence and clear certain misconception and misinformation being churned out in order to misguide members of the church, public and relevant authorities that we do not support rape.
2. We stand with anyone who has been a victim of rape. We stand by our Founding and Senior Pastor, Rev. Biodun Fatoyinbo, who has been at the receiving end of organized blackmail and all sorts of attacks because of his innocence and we are sure that our faithful and unfailing God will vindicate him very soon.
3. As for Busola Dakolo, justice will soon be served. We would like to, again, for the record reiterate that our Senior Pastor, Rev. Biodun Fatoyinbo has never had anything personal to do with her. Busola was not raped by Rev. Biodun Fatoyinbo and she had never been in a relationship with him either.
4. We see this ugly development fuelled by envy and sheer jealousy as an unnecessary distraction and a fight from the pit of hell against the ministry that God gave Rev. Biodun Fatoyinbo, as well as a declaration of war against the Church of Christ to which COZA is a flourishing branch under God’s grace.
5. We are not unaware that certain pastors that felt threatened by the unprecedented growth of COZA and the grace of God upon His Servant are after some of our members, just making every effort to cash in on the attack against God’s servant. There was nothing they had not done behind the scene until this rape scandal. They are accusing our Pastor of snatching their members. Some are even asking why he couldn’t remain in Ilorin. Our focus is the Kingdom of God and winning souls for Christ. COZA is home to those who have sold out to Jesus. At COZA, we believe that every sent servant of God has his or her harvest field given to him or her by God and not by poaching souls or believers of another ministry.
6. The enemies of the Church have been going about fabricating stories against our Pastor having realized that the Busola story cannot be proved in the court of law. They are begging people to come out to make frivolous claims against the anointed Servant of God. Not only that, some highly respected Pastors who identify with our Pastor are being abused and insulted for standing by the truth while some agreed with them on the need to demonise and destroy our Pastor. But we have a message for them,  COZA is marching on and the gate of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus Christ whom we are serving will vindicate our Pastor and the adversaries will be silenced forever in Jesus Name
7. We therefore urge those sponsoring these evils to desist however if they do not, the God of vengeance will visit them. They should let Rev. Biodun Fatoyinbo continue freely with his divine mandate that our Lord Jesus Christ gave him. It is ungodly and sinful to be used by satan against the anointed.

Thank You

Signed

Ademola Adetuberu

Executive Senior Assistant to the Senior Pastor,

Commonwealth of Zion Assembly ( COZA )

21 September, 2019.

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The group warned that the said pastors should desist from their antics or else they would be exposed.

This is as the group also warned the police and other security agencies to stop harassing Fatoyinbo in the course of the preliminary investigation being carried out on the case.

According to the group, in a statement issued by its director, Dr. Atta Ogah, and Secretary, Bitrus Godwin, security agencies should not be made willing tools in the hands of external influences to pervert justice.

The group observed that “rape allegation is a very serious matter that should not be glossed over; however, no one should be treated as if he or she is already guilty during and after investigation until a court of competent jurisdiction gives its final verdict on the matter strictly on law.”

The group scolded the security agency for what it described as a partisan approach in its investigation of the accused.

It said:  “The Police appears to have compromised, or else, why should they subject the pastor to humiliation by searching his house in Abuja for an offence allegedly committed in Ilorin 22 or 20 uncertain years ago? Why should his international passport be seized? That he will run away?”

According to the group, “We are surprised that the complainant (Busola) appears to be enjoying preferential treatment in the hands of the Police for a rather strange reason. Under normal circumstances, this is not supposed to be so,” the group stated.

According to the statement, the organisation which is made up of lawyers and human rights defenders said it was worried by the antics of the police and other security agencies.

The group said it was wrong of anti-graft agency to “raid” the premises of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, COZA.

“What were they looking for? Evidences of rape in order to nail the accused? This is bizarre and condemnable method of investigation,” the group said.

It warned the Police to be professional and non-partisan in the investigation saying that, “Pastor Fatoyinbo is not a criminal; he is a mere suspect of a very controversial allegation, which is what the Police has a responsibility to find out, instead of treating the accused as a criminal.”

“We therefore strongly advise and warn that until proven otherwise, the law must fully protect both the complainant and the accused equally. Thus the unwarranted harassment and intimidation of Pastor Fatoyinbo by the Nigeria Police should stop forthwith,”  the group said.

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An Federal Capital Terriorty, FCT, High Court in a writ of summons obtained on Monday by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) dated September 6 and served on Fatoyinbo, ordered the Pastor to appear before it within 14 days of the service or judgment may be given in his absence.

“You are hereby commanded that within fourteen (14) days after the service of this writ on you, inclusive of the day of such service you do cause an appearance to be entered for you, in an action of Mrs Busola Dakolo.

“And take notice that in default the claimant may proceed, and judgment may be given in your absence,” the summon reads.

NAN reports that the court might subpoena Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, the Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), as he has been listed among the witnesses Busola will be using to establish her case.

Busola through her lawyer,  Pelumi Olajengbesi & Co., is seeking the order of the court to compel Fatoyinbo to publish a clearly worded apology to Busola on the front page of at least two (2) National Newspapers and two National Televisions for seven days running consecutively.

Busola Dakolo had two months ago made a shocking revelation in a detailed interview with Chude Jideonwo, a lawyer and journalist of how the Abuja-based cleric raped her as a teenager.

She claimed that Fatoyinbo had sexual intercourse with her on September 23 and 26, 2002 caused her continuous emotional distress and amount to intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The viral video report had set social media and other online platforms on fire, evoking shock, backlash and criticisms from Nigerians, especially the Christian community.

It would be recalled that Pastor Fatoyinbo was detained during interrogation over the rape allegation at the Force Headquarters in Abuja in August.

He was eventually released on bail.

He had earlier boycotted the panel set up by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) to investigate the rape allegation against him, claiming that he was advised by his lawyers not to appear.

Source:  NAN

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He surrendered himself for probe.

It would be recalled that Busola, wife of popular musician, Timi Dakolo, alleged that the pastor raped her when she was a teenager.

The pastor is as at the time of filing this report being interrogated at Force Criminal Investigation Division (FCID) headquarters in Abuja by a team of four officers led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Adaku Uche Anya.

Last week, Fatoyinbo revealed that he refused to attend the probe panel set up on the case by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, based on legal advice.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Executive Senior Assistant to the Senior Pastor, Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, COZA, Ademola Adetuberu, Fatoyinbo said that the legal advice was based on, among other things, the statement issued by PFN disowning him.

He argued that with the statement which was issued by the PFN president, Bishop Felix Omobude, he was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the PFN was already prejudiced and might not conduct an impartial session.

He said the PFN president had also crucified him without seeking to know his side of the story on the matter.

Other reasons bordering on the fact that the case was already being investigated by the police are contained in the statement issued.

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The order to take over the case was issued by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.

The allegation of rape was made against Fatoyinbo by Busola Dakolo, wife of popular singer, Timi Dakolo.

The mother of three said the pastor raped her when she was a teenager.

The case was subsequently reported to the police.

However, on Saturday, the controversy over the rape case took a new dimension when some policemen stormed the residence of Timi Dakolo to invite him and his wife to Abuja over alleged case of falsehood and threat to life.

In a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, on Monday, the Inspector General of Police directed Ogbizi to take over the case in order to ensure that it was thoroughly probed.

Ogbizi would oversee the investigation of the two cases before the police by Busola and Fatoyinbo.

His supervision, it was stated, would ensure justice and fair hearing in the different cases which would be looked into according to their merits.

It was added that in ordering a take over of the probe, the IGP had also directed that the procedure which the Police operatives adopted in serving Invitation Letters on Timi and Busola Dakolo on Saturday, 20th July, 2019, be subjected to rigorous and discreet scrutiny to ascertain its conformity with Police Standard Operating Procedure and International Best Practices.

The police boss was said to have called for restraints from the parties in the case, assuring that justice would be ensured.

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Mrs Busola Dakolo, wife of Nigeria’s inspirational singer, Timi Dakolo, had accused the pastor of rape when she was 17 years.

The allegation necessitated the stepping down of Fatoyinbo as the Senior Pastor of the church.

However, Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi, Convener of COPA in a statement on Monday urged Adamu to ensure the matter was not swept under the carpet and that the suspect should be tried in Lagos where the matter was reported.

The head of the group of lawyers called on the police to handle the case in Lagos where the victims resides, adding that “our demands are simply that the matter be allowed its due course within the jurisdiction where the complaint was filed.”

He called on the police to take urgent action on the matter that had already been in the public glare without giving rooms for doubt in their ability.

He also urged the police to execute a valid and active warrant of arrest against Fatoyimbo in order to restore the confidence of the ordinary Nigerians.

COPA leader further stated that the coalition would diligently continue to monitor matters as they arise to ensure fairness and justice.

It would be recalled that Mrs Busola Dakolo filed a petition against pastor Biodun on the 27th of June, 2019, at the Office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police in Alagbon, Ikoyi.

Source:  NAN

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