Previously, coordinator of MINE Teenage Ministry and pastor at The Ark Church Timi Adigun was accused of sexual harassment.
A public relations expert Akan Imoh in a viral Facebook post said he lives close to the church in Lagos and that he confirmed the allegations after investigating alongside two other journalists.
“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,” he wrote.
“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.”
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1327442990971060&id=100011161147861
Adigun, 35, is also the editor of MINE Magazine – a free Christian teenage magazine that preaches sexual purity.
On Twitter, a life coach named Orifunke led in the allegations on Thursday. She said Adigun has refused to address the allegations.
“The interesting thing is the members are only asking him to come out and address it. They want him to admit it, justice to be followed after and healing gotten for victims. That’s what they are asking.
“But he has refused to say NADA. He is even running giveaways on IG,” she wrote.
https://twitter.com/Orifunke/status/1336975783982673922?s=20
Orifunke also accused Adigun’s wife Titi of complicity.
The teenage ministry confirmed the allegations against its coordinator in a Twitter thread on Thursday.
“He’s a sexual predator. Before he was found out, he’d just started the “Father me” series where he encouraged people to submit to fatherhood, even while molesting those who have lived with him for 5+ years,” the organisation wrote but later deleted the tweet.
In subsequent tweets, which were not deleted, the group said Adigun’s defence, when quizzed, was that the girls also enjoyed the acts, and no one loves the girls as much as he does.
The ministry later released a statement dissociating itself from Adigun’s actions.
“Based on the issue of sexual harrasment against Timi Adigun, the Coordinator of MINE Teenage Ministry, we hereby dissociate the message of the ministry from his actions.
“As a ministry, we stepped in to ask him to do the right thing, but our efforts were rebuffed,” the statement read.
4. We hereby announce to the general public that the message of sexual purity still stands irrespective of the action of the man that held a key position.
— MineTeenageMinistry (@MINEministry) December 10, 2020
Pastor Timi Adigun Apologizes For His “Inappropriate Behaviour With Females”
“I Was Involved In Inappropriate Behaviour With Females” – Pastor Timi Adigun of MINE Teens Ministry Admits And Apologizes After Being Accused Of Sexually Molesting Teenagers
Pastor Timi Adigun of MINE Teenage Ministry has reacted to the allegations that he sexually assaulted a number of the teens in his care, IgbereTV reports.
It was claimed on Twitter that Adigun, who is the leader of The Ark Church, was involved in inappropriate sexual acts with his female teenage members for years.
The teenage ministry, an offshoot of his church, encourages sexual purity and even has a yearly “virginity day”.
However, while teaching them about sexual purity, he was not living up to his teachings.
The married pastor was also accused of molesting those who lived with him for over 5 years.
They claimed that he started the “Father Me” series where he encouraged people to submit to fatherhood, only for him to use the opportunity to allegedly molest those girls who took him as a father.
His female victims are reportedly “extremely hurt and broken”.
When his action was made public and members started demanding an answer, he reportedly closed The Ark Church and moved elsewhere to open another church.
Mine Teenage Ministry made these accusations on Twitter via its official Twitter handle then claimed that his wife, Timilehin Adigun was aware of his actions and was “complicit”.
Journalist Akan Imoh also called him out stating that he and others investigated the allegation against the Pastor and everyone they spoke to ”confirmed” the story.
Pastor Timi has now responded to the allegations via his Instagram handle.
He said he is “deeply sorry” to everyone his “actions and inactions have hurt”.
He added: “The truth is, I was involved in inapproprite behaviour with females over a couple of years.”
He continued: “I went against the sexual purity message I preach and believe in.”
He, however, stated that “there was no sexual intercourse with any” of the girls and “none was a minor.”
He exonerated his wife, saying: “My wife did not know about these actions while they happened.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIq7AQ6DhdE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Read his full apology below.
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