Pastor complains of ill treatment in E Cape jail

A NIGERIAN televangelist accused of grooming young girls for sex claims he is the victim of inhumane treatment by authorities in South Africa.

The controversial pastor’s bail hearing resumed in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The court heard allegations that Pastor Tim Omotoso had recruited as many as 25 young women and girls‚ some as young as 13‚ from around the country to take part in sexual acts.

The complainants attended his church.

The 58-year-old‚ who is a father of three‚ is head of a Durban-based church. He faces human trafficking and sexual violence charges.

The Guardian newspaper in Nigeria reported that he had sent a letter‚ signed by his lawyer‚ to Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs‚ Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim‚ complaining about his arrest and detention.

The letter complained that he was arrested “commando style by the South African police force and swooped on like a terrorist” at the airport in Port Elizabeth.

“They made him sleep on the bare floor without a mattress with the cold temperature. Attempts made by the family to give him a blanket just to give him the barest comfort were refused by the prison officials‚” said the letter.

The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that the pastor was struggling to deal with his incarceration.

“He is not doing very well. He is not allowed to shave and only his wife and his lawyers are allowed to visit him.

“Members of the church are not allowed to visit him. Every time we query this we are told that it is on the instructions of the Hawks‚” said his attorney‚ Alwyn Griebenow.

Omotoso was arrested after details about his alleged activities with young women were revealed by the SABC’s Special Assignment. — TMG