Nigerian General Overseer In South Africa Considering Suicide

THE TROUBLES OF TIMOTHY OMOTOSHO, Nigerian General Overseer Pastor of Jesus Dominion International Church, facing charges of human trafficking and rape in South Africa is far from being over as rape victims, South African Police Hawks and South African government have all come out in full condemnation of this smooth-talking Televangelist who has been denied bail while chilling revelation of his sexual predatory behaviour is being narrated, especially how he preys on 13 year old innocent girls from poor family backgrounds in various communities in Madiba’s country.
South African Police Hawks step up investigation on the matter as they nab South African women, who are recruiters of 13 year old Girls for Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotosho to perform as sexual entertainers where he masturbates, then penetrates them without condom. Victims massage him with Vaseline before penetrating them without condoms while reciting the book of psalm afterwards.
In Port Elizabeth, two women, believed to have acted as recruiters of young women and teenagers for alleged sexual pest pastor Omotoso, were arrested Tuesday afternoon. Omotoso, the charismatic Nigerian televangelist and senior pastor of the Jesus Dominion International Church, faces charges of human trafficking and rape.
A second case, relating to his immigration status and an alleged fraudulent work visa from 2000, is also being investigated. Hawks spokesperson Captain Anelise Feni confirmed that the two women, aged 28 and 36, were arrested for their alleged involvement in recruiting young women for Omotoso.
“The two women were arrested by the Port Elizabeth Hawks Trafficking in Persons unit. It is alleged that the women recruited young girls all over the country and monitored their movements in the houses where they were kept,” said Feni.
During Omotoso’s first bail hearing, Hawks chief investigating officer Peter Plaatjies said the pastor had a modus operandi similar to that of a skilled sex offender who preyed on young girls.
On how these innocent girls were recruited, Plaatjies told the court how this 59 years old Nigerian used older women to identify and recruit young women, some as young as 13, to join his circle of “sexual entertainers”.
They were allegedly identified from church crusades and usual church services and it is alleged that recruiters would target vulnerable women from poor homes where there were no father figures.
Plaatjies said that they were paraded and travel tickets to Durban were bought for those who fitted the desired profile to go and meet Omotoso. Once in Durban, they would have allegedly been pampered, given luxuries, cash and groomed for alleged sexual encounters with the pastor.
Allegations included that Omotoso had the young women give him full body massages and made them lie next to him while he masturbates before they were sexually penetrated. Kamara Pulemega (not real name), one of the rape victims said: “We all as victims of rape in the hands of Pastor Omotoso wants justice. We saw him when he had young women give him full body massages, made us lie next to him while he masturbates before having sex to us without wearing condom.”
Omotoso made his victims massage him with Vaseline before penetrating them without condoms and reciting a psalm afterwards. An investigating officer in the case of jailed pastor Omotoso gave chilling testimony of how the clergyman allegedly used the modus operandi of a skilled sexual predator to lure young girls and later abuse them.
Omotoso is facing various sexual offence charges, including human trafficking and rape. His appearances at the Port Elizabeth Magistrates’ Court have been marked by huge crowds of supporters, who have gathered outside court insisting he is innocent. ANC supporters, on the other hand, have also assembled, calling for him to be denied bail.
In affidavits presented as evidence before court, Omotoso was characterised as being the kingpin of a sex ring involving mostly unsuspecting girls, some as young as 13. Speaking in court during Omotoso’s bail hearing this week, Hawks chief investigating officer Peter Plaatjies said the accused had a modus operandi similar to that of skilled sex offenders who preyed on young girls.
His words: “He has a set of older girls that identify and recruit young girls … to join his circle of sexual entertainers. These recruiters identify young girls who visit the church for crusades and ordinary church services.”
Plaatjies on how these recruiters visit several South African communities to find vulnerable girls from homes without father figures, he explained that an individual interview process was then embarked upon, which sought to vet each girl for information about her family background.
“Omotoso’s first interest area is to ensure that these girls have no male family members who will come looking for them, ideally, they should come from poor homes, where money is needed for survival,” states Plaatjies.
These girls were then paraded, and those who fitted the desired profile were bought tickets to travel to Durban, where Omotoso was based, to meet him, as they are enticed with money because they are poor and need money.
Plaatjies said the girls would then undergo a transformation process, which involved a complete makeover that turned them into absolute beauties. He said the girls were then given large amounts of money. These transactions were made either in cash or through money transfer services from shops such as Shoprite.
“The girls are kept in the same house and the same room(s) in his house, and in his mission houses in Durban. One by one they are called into a dark room, where Omotoso makes sexual advances to them.” He said the girls were given strict orders to always be clean as Omotoso wanted them to be clean all the time.
“When in the bedroom with him, they are given Vaseline petroleum jelly to massage him with, starting at the toes and spreading it on his entire body. He then makes them lie on the bed next to him and strokes himself while masturbating, and eventually ejaculates on their thighs. Then he recites Psalm 51, as he prays after the sexual act.”
Plaatjies said that over time, the act would advance to sexual penetration, when Omotoso felt the girls had been properly initiated to satisfy his desires. He said Omotoso kept more than 40 girls at a time, over different periods, in these houses.
Plaatjies said: “The penetration is without a condom. He does not keep them in his own residence, but in houses called the mission houses. If they refuse, their benefits are withdrawn as a form of manipulation and punishment. The older girls, known as the handlers, bear the brunt if the recruits do not perform according to Omotoso’s expectation.”
During the narration of her husband’s conduct, Omotoso’s wife, Taiwo, sighed and gasped in disbelief. Omotoso’s lawyers have denied the allegations against him and lambasted the state for being vague.
His legal representative, Alfonso Hatting, made his first presentation to the court on Friday, saying his client’s rights were grossly violated during the arrest. He dismissed Plaatjies’ claims that the Hawks had found half-naked women at a Bloemfontein resort during the Easter weekend, when the crime fighters had acted on a tip-off that Omotoso was staying there.
Omotoso sat with his eyes shut during his lawyers’ presentation of the affidavit.
In the affidavit, Omotoso said he was ill-treated and manhandled by the police on the day of his arrest, shortly after he landed at Port Elizabeth International Airport.
Omotoso deposed in affidavit: “I was stopped in the middle of relieving myself at the airport toilets by gun-wielding men.” Omotoso said before he could work out what was going on, he looked up and found guns pointed at him.
“They tied my hands behind me with tight cables. When I asked them to loosen them a bit, they tied them even tighter,” he said, adding that he was humiliated because many people took video clips of the arrest and the whole world had seen the way he was treated. “There were journalists waiting for my arrest at the airport. My constitutional rights were violated,” read the affidavit.
Omotoso went on to express his disgust at the condition of the toilets at the Mount Road Police Station, where he was initially detained. I was put in a place with filthy toilets. I struggled to sleep. I now have flashbacks of the experiences. I have requested a psychologist because I am now becoming suicidal.”
As South Africa grapples with an increasing number of attacks on women, a bail application case involving a pastor who is alleged to have raped and abused underage girls in his church drags on in the Port Elizabeth Magistrates’ Court.
The bail application of Omotoso, who also faces charges of human trafficking, has continued for the past two weeks. The court has been trying to verify the legality of Omotoso’s multiple passports. On Friday, home affairs immigration officer Ivan Classen gave a report of the investigation he conducted on the legality of Omotoso’s travel documents.
Classen said contrary to what had been presented before court in the last appearance, Omotoso had six passports – not four, as his legal team had said before. Classen said he could not access the first passport, which had been issued in May 2000.
Classen said Omotoso’s visa could not be confirmed and that South African law obliged Nigerian nationals to enter the country under strict conditions, such as being in possession of a visa, as well as a valid passport.
He said that, on July 18 of the same year, Omotoso travelled to Botswana from South Africa and made an application for a work permit at the South African embassy in that country.
Classen said: “He was granted a work permit that was based on his application stating that he was in South Africa to be employed by Jesus Arena International in Sunnyside, Pretoria, as an overseer and founder member of the church. On the same day, he travelled back to South Africa and his permit was not scanned.”
He said Omotoso had used the same visa to travel in and out of the country three times, despite its single-entry status.
“He travelled in August 2000, leaving South Africa; he travelled again in October 2000, entering South Africa and lastly departed in June 2001,” said Classen. He said there was a second passport that granted him temporary residence for a holiday. This permit was issued in July 2000 in a Pretoria office.”
Classen drew a picture of several South African immigration laws being flouted during Omotoso’s travelling to and staying in South Africa in the past 17 years.
Omotoso was granted temporary residency status that could be renewed for a maximum of three years, which he never activated.
“He illegally renewed this document for a period of four years, despite it never being activated. This is in contravention of immigration laws and conditions. There were referrals done on documents that were supposedly in certain pages in his documents, yet the pages referred to are blank and have no previous history.”
Omotoso’s lawyer, Alfonso Hatting, said Omotoso could not be blamed for human error on the part of immigration officers. Omotoso is to hear the outcome of his bail appeal in the Eastern Cape High Court in Port Elizabeth next week.
The Durban-based televangelist’s legal counsel, headed by Alwyn Rossouw SC, has approached the High Court to overturn Magistrate Thandeka Mashiyi’s dismissal of Omotoso’s application for bail. The 59-year-old pastor is facing charges of human trafficking, sexual assault and the rape of young women.
He has been in custody since his dramatic arrest at the Port Elizabeth airport on April 20, by members of the SAPS Tactical Task Team.
Two women accused of acting as Omotoso’s recruiters are expected to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Friday. His lawyers said they would be suing the state for the unlawful arrest of their client.The case has been postponed to Friday, pending the verification of Omotoso’s two passports.