A group, Social Justice League, has called on the Nigeria Police Force to ensure that the ongoing investigation into the rape allegations against the Senior Pastor of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, Biodun Fatoyinbo, was transparent and impartial.

While noting that the rape allegations by Busola, wife of a popular artiste, Timi Dakolo, was weighty, it said the force should not make itself “a willing tool in the hands of external influences to pervert justice.”

In a statement signed by the SJL Director, Dr Atta Ogah, and Secretary, Mr Bitrus Godwin, and issued after its quarterly policy review meeting in Abuja on Friday, the group asked security agencies to stop intimidating the cleric, stating that Fatoyinbo should not be treated like a criminal since the police probe had not been concluded.

The group also accused some unnamed clerics of masterminding the investigation out of envy, adding that it would soon expose their identities to the world.

The statement read, “Rape allegation is a very serious matter that should not be glossed over; however, no one should be treated as if he or she is already guilty during and after investigation until a court of competent jurisdiction gives its final verdict on the matter strictly on law.”

The group accused the police of taking a partisan approach to the investigation by searching Fatoyinbo’s home and seizing his passport, noting that there was no connection between the alleged offence and the trajectory of the investigation.

It noted, “The police appeared to have been compromised; if not, why should they subject the pastor to humiliation by searching his house in Abuja for an offence allegedly committed in Ilorin 18 or 20 years ago? Why should his international passport be seized? That he will run away?”

“Pastor Fatoyinbo is not a criminal; he is a mere suspect of a very controversial allegation, which the police have the responsibility to find out.”