‘I have never raped anyone’ — Fatoyinbo breaks silence

Biodun Fatoyinbo, founder of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), says he has never raped anyone in his life.

Reacting to the allegation levelled against him by Busola, wife of Timi Dakolo, a Nigerian singer, the pastor said he is innocent.

He spoke in a statement shared via his Instagram page.

“Busola Dakolo, who has made this false allegation and her family attended the church during the early start of the church in Ilorin in 1999. I never had any private interactions with her beyond my pastoral duties,” he said.

“Looking at her status and that of her husband, I am dumbfounded why she would say such a thing. As expected under the ethics of journalism, it would have been expected that I should have been confronted with these false allegations prior to any publication, instead of resorting to social media with the intent to ruin my reputation and bring down the church.

“We will also not stand for false criminal allegations made against me or the church. The leadership of the Church and I have briefed our lawyers to commence criminal and civil actions against all individuals making such false allegations whether directly or by proxies.

“We will as a church pursue every measure within the ambit of the law to bring the culprits to justice. We have heard, and we will not be surprised to see more of such allegations by people who have been paid to continue in this line of blackmail, harassment and extortion including those who may have been dismissed from their duties in the church on disciplinary grounds.

“To all our members and those supporting God’s work, I want to assure you that we would fight this and the Lord will vindicate us. This has always been intended to attack the church, this is the intent of the adversary, the intent is to destroy the church, so please stay focused and prayerful. God Bless you. I celebrate you.”