Sex-pest pastor cries foul

Nigerian sex accused bail hearing continues

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

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

The court heard allegations that he 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 alleged victims attended his church.

The 58-year-old‚ who is a father of three‚ is head of a Durban-based church. He is facing 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 “commandostyle by the South African police force and swooped on like a terrorist” at the airport in PE.

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.

The pastor was arrested after details about his alleged activities with young women were revealed by the SABC’s Special Assignment show.