Posted by By Moshood Adebayo, Abeokuta on
"I went out with him several times. We went to Lagos together and I used to go to his house in the absence of his wife, a nursery school teacher. During those times, he made love to me in his house."
"I went out with him several times. We went to Lagos together and I used to go to his house in the absence of his wife, a nursery school teacher. During those times, he made love to me in his house.
"When I became pregnant, I told him, but he initially denied responsibility saying that he had been given an injection that made him incapable of impregnating a women. When I persisted, he gave me N1, 000 to procure an abortion."
With the above comments, a 34-year-old housewife, Mrs. Lola Salami, began her blood-chilling confession alleging that Samuel Adedipe, until recently a pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Abule Oloni, Lantoro, Abeokuta, Ogun State lured her into an illicit affair.
Mrs. Salami who spilled the bean to Sunday Sun in the presence of her mechanic husband, Salami, said her amorous relationship with the man of God began in January this year.
Her words: "My name is Lola Salami, two years ago, Pastor Samuel Adedipe of the RCCG, Abule Oloni, Abeokuta advised me to divorce my husband saying that my husband was below my status. He promised to assist me if I opted out of the relationship. He gave me anointing oil and prophesied, after prayers, that my husband was using my star.
"Acting on his advice, I packed out of my matrimonial home. He first said that I should pack to my sister's house, but later I packed to my parents' house at Ijemu Agbadu. He visited me there several times.
"During my visit to him (where I told him that I was pregnant), he bought soft drink for me. As I was drinking it, I excused him to ease myself. I later came back to finish the drink. But shortly after, I developed upset. When I got home that day (in my parents' home) at Ijemo Agbadu, I started bleeding.
"I was taken first to King David (Hospital) where the medical personnel rejected me before I was later taken to Timilehin Hospital, Ago-Oba where my sister had once worked. I was given an injection at the hospital that stopped the bleeding. My first daughter who is about 10 yeas old reported to her father and he came to visit me in the hospital. He even paid the hospital bill. When I got back home, (still in my parents' home), I could not walk. The spirit kept telling me that if I did not confess my unfaithfulness to my husband, I would die.
"My mother sent for my husband and, with the assistance of others in the house, took me back to the hospital where I found it difficult to stand erect or walk. At the hospital, the doctor examined me and said there was no reason for me not to walk. I was later discharged.
"When I got out of the hospital that day, I begged my husband that he should allow me to go back with him to his house. Initially, he refused, but later accepted. When we got back home, I begged him and confessed that I had sinned against God and him."
"I told him that the pregnancy I aborted belonged to a pastor. Miraculously, after my confession, I started walking. We reported the incident to the RCCG headquarters at Adigbe where the matter was investigated and found to be true. The pastor was initially suspended but later dismissed from the Church."
Pastor denies
Reacting to what he described as a deliberate attempt by his enemies and detractors to tarnish his image, Pastor Adedipe who has since been dismissed from the church, denied the allegation, saying: "God is my witness. I have never committed adultery with anyone in my life or with Mama Ayo (Mrs. Salami). I swear and God knows that I am telling the truth".
Pastor Adedipe, who also canvassed his defense in the presence of his wife of 25 years, accused the RCCG of not being fair to him in their investigation of the matter. "Before the allegation, they (the provincial headquarters) had been planning against me. I don't know why, without asking me any questions, without seeing me, they suspended me before they even thought of asking me to come with my wife to tell my own side of the story.
"So I went with my wife and I told them everything. My wife also told them about my faithfulness to her. She let them know that for the 25 years that we have been married, I had not cheated on her. She also told them that she did not have any reason to doubt my sincerity. She defended me that I don't sleep outside. Even vigils, we attend together. After my wife's testimony, those people in the church, already biased against me, told her not to trust me as a husband. That was how they dismissed me from the church. I accept the verdict, but I did not do what I was accused of. God is my witness! A woman will not open her mouth in the public and say a man is sleeping with her if she wasn't is under a spell."
Pastor Adedipe opens up
How it all started:
One lady brought a woman called Lola to the church. They live together and attend the Sunday service. After the service, she waited to see me. When she narrated her problems, I was convinced that she needed deliverance and I asked her to come on Monday.
Deliverance
That Monday, she came after service, we did deliverance ministration for her and she left. Thereafter, she became regular in church. Another day, she also came with a problem. I was trying to listen to her when the lady that introduced her to the church advised that I should allow her husband to be present. Later when we finished the service, I saw her standing outside. When I inquired about the problem, she told me that her husband had driven her out of the house. So I took her inside the car, with my wife, and together we went to her house to plead with her husband. Her husband told us many things about the woman and his unwillingness to accept her back. We prayed with them and left very late in the night. Then, everything started going on well with them.
Maltreatment
Despite that things started going well with them, Lola continued to complain to me that her husband was still maltreating her. That he would travel without leaving feeding allowance. With my wife, we used to send food and sometimes money to her. I gave her money whenever she complained that her husband failed to drop money for her. She used to tell me that the man would not stay at home; he would leave home for days and only give the family N100. We did our best, my wife and I, to help her in that condition.
They sought advice
After Lola was delivered of a baby, she felt like leaving her husband and she reported to her father who also invited me to advise them as a pastor. I told him that as a pastor, I could not advise a woman to pack out of her matrimonial home. Her father said she was not actually married to the man. He explained that the man only impregnated her while she was a secondary school student and accepted responsibility for the pregnancy. It was in that circumstance that he allowed them to live as husband and wife because he did not favour abortion.
Frame up and my trial
It was all a frame up. Most members of my congregation at Abule Oloni know that I did not do what the woman accused me of doing with her. I have been serving God before I joined the RCCG. I have my reputation to protect, and I could not have slept with a woman that is my wife. Since my marriage in the past 25 yeas, I have not slept with any other woman.
The RCCG, through the provincial headquarters, was not fair to me. They did not allow me to give my account of what happened. I don't know why they would not hear my own side of the story before jumping into conclusion. That is most unfair. I did not have any illicit affair with Mama Ayo and only God can judge appropriately.
Wife in hubby's defence:
I trust my husband, says Mrs. Adedipe
"There is no truth in the allegation. I trust my husband and I know what he can do. He can't do what they said he did. I trust him. He is not just a pastor, but a Christian who believes in the doctrines of Jesus Christ.
We have been counseling the youths that have transgressed from the Christian way of life. Together, we made it a point of duty to bring them back home to the Lord Jesus Christ. But the case of this woman, I don't believe it. If not for the grace of God, my husband and I could have parted ways because of this case. It is a grievous matter, but I know that with God all things are possible.
It is a rude shock to me that someone like my husband who works in the vineyard of God would be so accused. The Bible says: "Go all over the world and preach the gospel, those people that are having serious problems, bring them to me and I will heal them. This lady was in bondage and we supported her, now see how she is accusing my husband. The day we went to the hospital to meet her, she did not say that this was what was going on.
They set up a panel and made the state mother chairperson. Human beings are terrible! Would you believe that the state mother even told me not to trust my husband? No, I trust him if they don't. We have been living together for 25 years as husband and wife. It is not a joke and my husband has not been sleeping outside. He is a caring father and trustworthy. This is a dirty game and, I am convinced that my husband is not involved.
It is totally dirty for his spiritual life and some of the brethren know him very well. I say this one is not for me and not for my husband."
Adedipe is morally bankrupt, says Obanure, Provincial pastor
"We are convinced, on the strength of the investigation conducted by the Church, that the man (Pastor Adedipe) is guilty of the allegation. We could not have sent our pastor away if we were not convinced that he was morally bankrupt.
During our investigations, we went as far as the hospital. We did a thorough investigation and also gave him fair hearing before we took the decision.
Something must be wrong with us if we have to send our own pastor away without concrete evidence to prove that he is guilty of the allegation. It means we are crazy if we have to nail him. It is not only criminal, but also vindictive. I couldn't have nailed one of my pastors for a flimsy and unproven reason, if there was no concrete evidence. We did a thorough investigation and allowed fairness and justice to prevail".