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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by celebrity photographer, Busola Dakolo, against the Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly(COZA), Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo.
The court also ordered Busola Dakolo to pay N1 million for wasting the court’s time.
Busola, wife of popular musician, Timi Dakolo, filed the suit in September, accusing Fatoyinbo of rape.
In the suit, which was filed on her behalf by her lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi and Co of Law Corridor, Busola asked the court to declare that Fatoyinbo’s denial of his alleged acts contained jointly and or severally through a press statement he released on June 28, 2019, had caused her continuous emotional distress and amounted to intentional infliction of emotional distress on her.
Olajengbesi said: “The claimant avers that she was immediately terrified and in shock while the defendant pinned her down on the couch following which he caressed her body, fondled her breasts, pulled her pants, quickly half-pulled his trousers and ordered her to allow him to have his way with her.
“The claimant avers that the defendant in the process used his hand to cover her mouth, thereby muffling her screams. The claimant avers that the defendant made efforts to penetrate her vagina, whilst she struggled to fight him off; however, the defendant overpowered her and penetrated her vagina and had sexual intercourse with her.
“The claimant avers that while she was in shock of the incident which had rendered her befuddled and mortified, the defendant rushed out of the living room area of her family home and briefly returned with a bottle of soda (Krest) which he forced down her throat thereby making her breathing difficult.”
She added that the alleged action of the pastor, as well as his denial in a statement, adversely affected her marital sex life.
She, therefore, demanded “a personal letter of apology” from the pastor to show honest remorse for his misdeeds.
However, Fatoyinbo’s lawyer, Alex Iziyon (SAN), argued that the prayer could not be granted, describing it as a frivolous suit.
In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Othman Musa held that the matter amounts to injustice and an abuse of judicial process, adding that the case is empty and purely sentimental.
The judge said the case was aimed more at cruelty than obtaining justice.
He held that the fine should have been 10 times more because the court’s time was wasted.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force has explained that slow pace of the probe into the rape allegation against Fatoyinbo was slow due to the fact that the alleged crime took place 20 years ago.
The Punch quoted the Force Public Relations Officer(FPRO), Frank Mba, as saying that the matter was being investigated but the police would not be pushed into filing charges for the fun of it.
He added that once the police are done with the investigation, the public would be notified regarding the next step.