Birmingham, UK – In a shocking case, a UK-based Nigerian evangelical pastor, Michael Oluronbi, has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for the repeated rape and sexual abuse of members of his congregation over the course of 20 years.
The 60-year-old pastor, who led a splinter group separate from his main church, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, was found guilty of 15 counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault against six women and one man.
A jury heard that Oluronbi used his position of authority to convince some of his female victims, five of whom were members of his church, to participate in “spiritual bathing” rituals, which he claimed would “cleanse” them of evil spirits. However, the true purpose of these rituals was to fulfill Oluronbi’s “insatiable sexual appetite,” according to the judge.
The court heard that some of the female victims became pregnant multiple times as a result of the rapes, and Oluronbi, who was a qualified pharmacist, would take them to abortion clinics to cover up his crimes.
In a video confession obtained by the police last year, Oluronbi is heard saying, “Everything was just my fault, and as I said before, I wasn’t meant to be human. I wasn’t meant to live under the roof of any human being and I said that I was an animal.”
Despite the damning evidence, Oluronbi denied any wrongdoing during the trial, forcing his victims to testify against him during the nine-week legal proceedings. The judge, Sarah Buckingham, described his offenses as “one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts.”
Oluronbi’s wife, Juliana, was also convicted of three counts of aiding and abetting rape for helping to arrange some of the abortions. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The victims’ impact statements revealed the devastating emotional toll of Oluronbi’s actions, with one victim saying his abuse made her “question if my life was worth living.”
The case has sent shockwaves through the community and serves as a stark reminder of the importance of holding religious leaders accountable for abusing their positions of trust.
