The Lagos State Police Command have arrested a prophet, Elisa Ayoluwa, alias White, for allegedly raping underage children of his members and also for impregnating and aborting several pregnancies for one of his teenage victims.

Ayoluwa, the founder of Zion Prayer and Deliverance Mission in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos, was alleged to have aborted several pregnancies from one of his victims, a 15-year-old girl, with the help of a woman known as Iya Titi.

It was gathered that the man was arrested on Friday morning after a woman whose six-year-old daughter (names withheld) refused pleas from church elders that the matter be swept under carpet.

It was gathered that it was the woman who took the case to a Child’s Right Advocate Mrs Precious Ndukwu who notified the police at Ikotun.

The mother, who spoke to The Nation on phone, said that the prophet offered her N5,000 to keep quiet on the incident, adding that other parents accepted the money.

According to the woman, she usually took her child to the church premises to stay with other kids whenever she was going to work.

She said: “I used to have a job that kept me busy. I will leave home early and won’t return till about 11 pm.

“So, I usually took her to the prophet’s place and would go and pick her at night. Other children used to come there too to play.

“But along the line, I noticed that whenever I wanted to take her there, she would cry and say she does not want to go.

“I did not know anything was happening to her until one Sunday in church, a member called me aside and she told me to go and check my daughter.

“By this time, rumour has been going around that the prophet was sexually molesting children and teenagers.

“So, I took my daughter to a nurse and she examined her and said she has been penetrated.

“That was how I started asking her questions and she said it was the prophet that he usually molested her and that the day he raped her, he used clothe to clean the blood. She said he even told her not to tell anyone.”

According to Mrs Ndukwu, the kid was taken to Mirabel Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) after her mother’s complaint and it was established that she has been violated.

She said her findings also revealed that the prophet’s alleged rape of minors was common knowledge in the neighbourhood, wondering why the other parents chose to remain silent about it.

“Upon investigation we discovered that he has a particular woman known as Iya Titi that helps him abort for a particular child any time she is pregnant. The church members are aware of his behaviour and he has been going round begging each of the child’s parents.

“He has given N5, 000 to the mother of the child that he committed abortion for and she accepted to let peace reign. He remarried recently and so, I don’t know if his new wife was aware before now.

“The parents of the other victims refused to follow us to the police station to make their statement but the mother who refused the money did and the prophet was arrested.

“We expect the police to compel the other parents to come forward and state what they know.

“They need to be made to understand that keep quiet in this matter was a crime and they could be charged as accomplices,” she said.

Police spokesman Bala Elkana confirmed the suspect’s arrest, adding that he denied the allegation.

“The parents of the victim took her to the pastor’s house to be there temporarily when they went out for a programme.

“The act was suspected to have happened during that time. The pastor denied the allegation. We await medical report,” Elkana said.