A columnist with The PUNCH, Abimbola Adelakun, was on Sunday held by security men at the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, in Abuja.
The church’s senior pastor, Biodun Fatoyinbo, is embroiled in a rape allegation levelled by the wife of singer Timi Dakolo, Busola.
Adelakun, who said she was at the church on Sunday in furtherance of her research on Pentecostal churches, said she was pulled out of the church by the security men, who recognised her, and detained her in “one place where they were keeping everybody that they suspected.”
The columnist said her demand to be allowed to leave was refused by the security men.
Adelakun said she was subsequently taken to the police station at Asokoro, where the police threatened to charge her with “criminal trespass.”
She said the church security men, however, came back later to say if she could inform the public that she was not arrested, they would drop the case.
She said this was why she wrote on her Twitter handle, @Adunnibaby, that, “I’m aware of the info abt my arrest at COZA today. I wasn’t arrested. Earlier, I sent out an image bcos I was concerned when pulled aside by the protocol dept for questioning. Thanks to everyone who has been concerned about me. I am sorry for all the misinformation out there.”
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Giving an account of the incident after being released from the police station, Adelakun said, “We’ve left the police station now. While we were there, they demanded that I let PUNCH know that they were not holding me; they were not arresting me and I said that was okay.
“But the security men at the church detained me. They pulled me out of the service. They said they wanted to question me and they didn’t let me go. When they saw the tweet and report online, they then took me to the police station. They said it had become a criminal case and they had to go to the police station to resolve it because people had been coming to their church to write stories. I told them I was not writing, that I am a researcher, this is what I do, I go from church to church but they said we had to go to the police station.
“That was how they took me to Asokoro Police Station and the police said they would charge me with criminal trespass. Eventually, those people came back and said if I could just tell people who were already abusing them on the social media for arresting me, that they did not arrest me, they would let go because they were not interested in fighting but only wanted to clear their name. So, I said since I am not under arrest, let me say that I am not under arrest.”
