A popular Nigerian pastor, Michael Oluronbi and his wife Juliana, have been sentenced to jail for 34 years in the United Kingdom.
Oluronbi was found guilty of sexual offences against six women and a man.
The UK-based Nigerian clergyman was accused of abusing children and adults for over 20 years after convincing them to take part in “spiritual bathing to cleanse them of evil spirits.”
Oluronbi was jailed for 34 years for offences of multiple rapes of members of his congregation.
Birmingham Crown Court convicted Oluronbi of “fifteen counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault and at least 88 separate occasions on which he raped his victims.”
The Court heard that some of the victims became pregnant multiple times, but Oluronbi would take them to abortion clinics, as a cover-up for the abuse.
His wife was jailed for 11 years for three counts of aiding and abetting rape, as she assisted Oluronbi in arranging abortions for the victims.
Both defendants will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.
Oluronbi was linked to a Christian church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, whose roots were in Nigeria.
He had set up his own splinter group at another address and from where he began the “spiritual bathing.” The jury heard how the offences took place in Birmingham and London.
Sentencing “arrogant” Oluronbi, Judge Buckingham said: “You claimed that God was instructing you to conduct holy baths. Its real purpose was to fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite. The children feared you and this enabled you to continue your grip.
“Your offense has had an extreme and severe impact on all of your complainants. Any attempt to suggest otherwise would be without foundation. You abused your position of trust – they trusted you like God.
“You did this because you are an arrogant, selfish and vain man. In my judgment, your offending must be one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts.”
When confronted about his offences, Oluronbi said “The devil made me do it.”
