Howard Ike, 72, used the Bible to justify spanking the vulnerable women on their bare bottoms to satisfy his own sexual desires.
The former senior minister of the Highway to Heaven Christian Fellowship, Lagos, allegedly ran a “cult” where grown women were persuaded to strip naked so he could spank them over his knee for his own pleasure.
Married Ike and his “inner circle” used “unorthodox” teachings to instill discipline and drive out evil spirits in both women and children who had come to him for help, it is said.
His abuse of their trust continued as he moved “from one woman to another” and his confidence grew, Lagos Court heard.
who left his role as a senior minister at the independent Baptist church in June 2013, is faces 12 charges involving seven victims.
The former leader of the church, a role he left in May 2012, is charged with five counts of cruelty to children under 16 years of age, two counts of indecent assault, and four of sexual assault.
Additionally he faces one count of assault by penetration, while the offences are said to have occurred between January 1969 and July 2013.
Jane Osborne, prosecuting, said: “Howard Ike was the pastor of a religious body, or organisation, called the Alabaster Christian Fellowship, and had been in that position for some time.
“The church had a small congregation that followed him. In more recent years he had become more independent of any religious body, and was the church was effectively run by him.
“It was run and administered on a full-time basis by the defendant, his wife Chika, as well as his inner circle – part of a close-knit structure.
“In reality he ran this organisation much more like a cult within a church.”
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