By Sunmola Olowookere

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A pastor’s honour has taken a tumble in the dust, and no matter how much he tries to clean up after himself, no matter the level of damage control  carried out by his wife, the scandal of the randy pastor who gets his kicks out of frisking little girls has leaked like smelly sewage water into the neighbourhood, and it stinks to high heavens.

Their church was a thriving prophetic ministry in our neighbourhood. Due to Nigeria’s religious nature, their programmes were always filled.

His wife who was the owner of the ministry made him a co-founder. By that, he was ordained a pastor. However, to be honest, he never laid claim to having any calling or anointing. He was never put in charge of any programme or asked to deliver a sermon.

His wife knew him and his limitations, so he was majorly in charge of administration and finance. Though the wife sometimes heard complaints from people about how her husband shortchanged them in business dealings in the church and had strong suspicions that her husband was stealing the church blind, she wisely held her peace. She was very careful with him because she was afraid of it becoming public knowledge, should she confront him.

The whole neighbourhood knew her as a prophetess with the accurate gift of vision and many people went to her for counseling and to enquire about their future. Some went to her to seek solutions to their spiritual and physical problems.

She prepared special soap and sponges for those whose problems require taking spiritual bath and cleansing. In our neighbourhood, the church was a Mecca of sort and it made the area popular as people came from far and near to attend programmes at the church. The place was always filled with people. While some were coming and going, and others were there for a prescribed stay in the church. There were food sellers on the premises, so it was comfortable for those staying there. Some of the church workers had moved permanently to the church premises as there were available rooms in the mission house. The environment always bubbled. Prayer times were like carnivals.

The ministry boomed and thrived. Things were moving ever so smoothly until the devil reared its ugly head.

Among the occupants of the mission house was a chubby and beautiful girl who caught the eye of the pastor. The girl, Afusat, was placed under a deliverance session from the spirit of Ogbanje.

He had been eyeing the girl for a while, looking for an opening or rather an opportunity to satisfy his sexual desires through her.

He was sex-starved as his wife had refused him sex. For some years, the prophetess had told him that the lord told her not to have sexual relations with any man.

So no matter how much he tried, the prophetess never allowed him to touch her.

One day, the opportunity presented itself as the mission house was almost deserted. He called the girl to his room purportedly to send her on an errand. He grabbed her, pulled her onto his bed and began to fondle with her. She was alarmed and began to plead with him “Daddy, please don’t do this!”

He was adamant and he refused to listen to her. His eyes were glazed with desire as he pinned the girl down to the bed while fumbling with his trousers.

The girl who grew alarmed was by then crying and could not wriggle free as he had overpowered her. But as fate would have it, she was saved by the arrival of the wife.

She was standing by the window, having been attracted by sounds of scuttle inside and heard all that transpired inside.

“Daddy! Open the door now”. He grew still. “But she traveled along with some of her ministers, what is she doing back so soon?” He wondered, puzzled.

His heart sank and he got up with his heart in his mouth and went to open the door. – As soon as he opened the door to the wife, the girl ran out like a scared rabbit. The wife was livid “Why are you doing this? You want to rape a member of the church, don’t you care what the outcome would be should the news break?” She sighed heavily as the anger left her body. “Thank God, the evil incident was averted. No wonder I did not feel like going again”. she thought with relief. Her husband averted his face as she rebuked him.

The prophetess sent the girl out of the mission house that day and no matter how much her family pleaded for her, the prophetess maintained that she did something inappropriate and hence could not be allowed to continue living in the mission house.

The prophetess did it to cover her husband’s tracks and to avert future reoccurrence.

However, the family of the young girl who had been briefed by what transpired were miffed. Why should their daughter be the scapegoat after almost being raped?

They spread the scandal all over the neighbourhood. Indeed, the gospel mill had a very busy period.