The congregation of the United Methodist Church on Sunday, August 30, 2015 chased away their pastor over allegations that he got his house mad pregnant in Mafoluku, in the Oshodi area of Lagos State.
Punch reports that the pastor, Barkuma Andrew, was stopped from leading the church seven months ago when the housemaid, identified only as Grace, who was also a member of the church, had complications after she aborted the pregnancy.
Prior to the incident, the pastor resided in a three-bedroom flat on the church premises with his wife, children, wife’s cousin, Favour, and the housemaid n question.
The matter got to the point where the congregation wrote a petition to the Central Conference of the church in Taraba State, urging them to probe the pastor.
However, when the Central Conference failed to look into the matter, the church simply sought the service of another pastor three weeks ago.
They were surprised on arrival at the 10 am service on the fateful day when they arrived the church and saw the pastor and some “unknown” persons holding the service.
Out of anger, they chased Andrew and his group from the church.
The case was reported at the Makinde Police Division, which prompted the DPO and his men to intervene.
Speaking about the incident, a former secretary to Andrew, Moses Sherima, said that the pastor sent his wife to her village after he impregnated his maid.
He said: “My room is opposite pastor’s apartment and I was his secretary. When he started dating that girl (Grace), I called his wife’s cousin, Favour, on the matter. She said Grace used to tell her whenever the pastor had sex with her.”
“At a point, I had to move upstairs when I could no longer bear it. The day that abortion happened, I was sleeping inside my room when I heard Grace screaming. I rushed there and saw blood coming out from her private parts. When the wife came back from one of her numerous journeys, he told her to send Favour away.”
Corroborating the narration, another church member, John Komboroh, said the church was embarrassed by the pastor’s conduct, adding that they were tired of his leadership.
He said: “The petition of adultery against the pastor had been sent to the bishop at the Central Conference. He came here, but did not do anything about it. That was why we wrote to the main body, the Southern Conference to give us another pastor. His (Andrew’s) action is an embarrassment to us. We don’t want him again.”
The new pastor of the church, Reverend James Sunday, said: “We were about to start our service this morning when we met the old pastor and some unknown people already holding the service. I calmed down my people to avoid chaos.”
Also speaking, another resident and a female member, who identified herself only as Blessing, said the pastor had once made sexual advances to her.
“My husband is not always at home. The pastor would call me in the night and asked if I had slept. One day he entered my room and gave me a soft slap on my back. I had only the wrapper on me. I was surprised and told my neighbours,” she said.
