Innocent girls at the Light of Hope Orphanage has finally describe how the owner of the orphanage, Pastor Olatayo Atunde, raped them repeatedly. From outside, the Light of Hope Orphanage in Akute looks like every other orphange. But the things that go on inside are gory:
"Daddy started sleeping with me when I was 10. I have two blood brothers at the orphanage who I reported to but they have not been able to do anything about it. On one occasion, when he was sleeping with me, I ran into another room but he chased me and warned me never to run away from him again." ––said one of the girls he allegedly raped.According to Punch, the orphanage which was founded in 1996 by Pastor Atunde receives donations from multinational companies, non-governmental organisations, and other concerned members of the public who were deceived to believe that Pastor Atunde has genuine love for the vulnerable children.
However, recent sexual allegations by some of the female inmates have shattered the positive image the orphanage once enjoyed. It all started when two young girls from the home told their secondary school teacher that they were raped by Daddy (Pastor Atunde), who runs the facility.
One of the orphans 14-year-old Atinuke [not real name] confirmed that he slept with her and many other girls at the orphanage. Atinuke, who is now in custody of an NGO - Project Alert on Violence Against Women - said she lost her virginity to Pastor Atunde at the age of 10 and has lost count of the number of times he has had sex with her.
She said, “I also reported the matter to the orphanage administrator, Aunty Hannah, and she said she would address the matter but daddy continued to rape me. Daddy usually raped us around 2am in his room. His wife does not always sleep in his room. She sleeps at the crèche where the younger orphans are staying.”
Pastor Atunde was also alleged to have sacked one of the employees at the orphanage that dared to challenge him. Another orphan, Salewa [not real name], told Punch that she was barely 12 when he started having sexual relations with her.
She said she had a sister at the orphanage who was in the university. Salewe disclosed that she had also caught Pastor Atunde having sex with another orphan.
“Daddy has been having sex with at least 10 of us. We are mostly between the ages of 8 and 14. I reported to Aunty Hannah and when she challenged daddy, he laid a curse on me,” she said.
Pastor Atunde has been released by the police, they say they are investigating.
Buut a resident, who is an employee of the orphanage told Punch that, “After Atunde’s release, he hired some trucks to move the orphans to different locations so that if the state government shuts down the orphanage, he would still be able to operate directly or through a representative.
“Atunde receives donations from banks, multinationals, churches and other members of the public and the smartest thing for him to do right now, is to relocate the children and open another orphanage in a different name if possible. Most of the girls were relocated to another property within the area while others were taken to the Shangisha area of Lagos State. The police should not have granted him a bail.”
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