Tobias Sylvester
Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) has reacted to the Federal High Court ruling which threw dismissed the rape case filed against him by a celebrity photographer, Busola Dakolo.
KanyiDaily had reported that the court in Abuja dismissed the rape case filed by Busola against Pastor Fatoyinbo, saying the matter amounted to injustice, and an abuse of judicial process as the case was empty and purely sentimental.
Justice Othman A. Musa, who presided over the judgment, said that the case was aimed more at cruelty than obtaining justice.
Hence, the court ordered Busola to pay a sum of N1 million for ‘cruelty to Fatoyinbo’ and held that the fine should have been 10 times more because the court’s time was wasted.
Reacng to the court verdict, Pastor Fatoyinbo dedicated his victory to God and those who stood by him.
In a statement released on his behalf by his Senior Executive Assistant Pastor Ademola Adetuberu, the COZA pastor said the enemies of the church wanted to use him as a scapegoat.
He,however, prayed for his accusers, those that have been raped and those that have been wrongly accused. The statement reads:
“The victory is of the Lord. We dedicate it to those who stand by us. The victory belongs to God not to me or COZA. We will not share in His glory. The enemies are after the Church and not after me per se.
“They only used me as a scapegoat to launch the attacks. We know that faithful is He who has called us.
“I salute the courage and the support of my beautiful and godly wife, my lovely children, members of COZA family and those who stand by us.
“May God be praised in your life. I bear no grudge against those who were used by the adversary of the Church but instead, I pray for them that we should come together to fight the common enemies of the Church.
“My soul goes to men who are wrongly accused and women who are or have been abused. May God heal the wounds of everyone of us in Jesus Name,” he prayed.
She said she will appeal the judgement, noting that Fatoyinbo had 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.
