Accusations of sexual harassment have trailed Timi Adigun, the coordinator of MINE Teenage Ministry and pastor at The Ark Church, a Lagos-based worship centre.
Mr Adigun, 35, is also the editor of MINE Magazine – a free Christian teenage magazine that preaches sexual purity.
Earlier on Thursday, several posts surfaced online accusing Mr Adigun of sexcapades with teenage girls under his mentorship and tutelage.
Akan Imoh, a public relations expert, who lives close to the church in Lagos, claimed that he confirmed the allegations after investigating alongside two other journalists.
In the Facebook post that went viral, he also claimed Mr Adigun was nonchalant about their findings.
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“So, when I started hearing the rumours, I took steps to investigate. I had meetings with some of the top leaders in the ministry. I joined hands with two other journalists and we investigated the matter. We spoke with everyone who mattered, even up to the former pastors. Everyone confirmed the story. They were even urging us to go ahead and publish. We even created a Google form for former members to register their displeasure. You need to see the anger on that form.
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”The very annoying thing is that this man doesn’t seem like he cares. He just wants to move on. The last I heard is that he has started another church/ministry. Something called ‘Haven of Love’. Actually, MINE Teens Ministry was closed without any proper explanation. The church was also closed too.
”You just throw teenagers into confusion. There’s too much anger on the streets. These guys have been hitting up my DM, and I wasn’t even a leader or a member of the ministry. They are confused and angry. Can you imagine, you’ve been telling these kids not to have sex till they get married, but then, you’ve been doing stuff with them in secret,”
Mr Imoh wrote.
Commenting on the level of trust in Mr Adigun, Mr Imoh recalled a scenario that happened when he was still an executive in another teenage church.
Mr Imoh said he and another teen leader went to see the mum of a girl who they were trying to bring to church but was met with a cold reaction.
He, however, called out the clergyman, demanding explanations from him and intervention of leaders of the Christian community.
Mr Imoh further stated.
Several Nigerians have also clamoured that Mr Adigun responds to the allegation.
A journalist, Omon Okhuevbie, said she found out that Mr Adigun has been having “consensual” sex with teenagers and ladies in the church.
“It’s this level of pride and audacity to still plan to lead another church for me. To what end? To hurt them again? Pastor Timilehin Adigun has been harassing so many girls in his ministry and church in the past 5 years— a lot of people even say it is beyond 5 years,” Abayomi Adeola, a Business Coach wrote on Twitter.
Rather than respond to the allegations, Mr Adigun, through his wife, Titi Adigun, cancelled some programmes and suspended the MINE Teenage Ministry’s activities indefinitely.
she wrote on the church’s WhatsApp platform via her number.
Mr Adigun and his wife’s telephones have not been reachable since Thursday afternoon when our reporter tried the phone numbers repeatedly.
A close associate of Mr Adigun, who asked not to be named, said he had changed his known number when the allegations became public knowledge.
the source said.
Church reacts
In a thread posted via its Twitter account, MINE Teenage Ministry confirmed the allegations against its coordinator.
the organisation wrote but later deleted the tweet.
In subsequent tweets, which were not deleted, the group said Mr Adigun’s defence, when quizzed, was that the girls also enjoyed the acts, and no one loves the girls as much as he does.
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