Nigerian pastor accused of sexual assault hires a lawyer

A controversial Nigerian pastor has hired prominent Port Elizabeth defence attorney Alwyn Griebenow to represent him in the face of allegations that he sexually molested young girls at his home in Umhlanga‚ Durban.

Griebenow confirmed that he was the pastor's attorney and that he and defence advocate Terry Price will be meeting with the Hawks on Thursday afternoon in Port Elizabeth. The Hawks are investigating the allegations against Omotoso.

The pastor is accused of molesting more than 30 young girls on the pretext of rescuing them from drugs.

The Nigerian evangelist came under scrutiny after his church featured on current affairs programme Special Assignment on Sunday. The programme spoke to women who claimed that they were lured into performing sexual favours for the pastor.

• Pastor Mboro to pray for family of five-year-old victim of 'satanic' killingCelebrity “prophet” Pastor Mboro will on Wednesday pray for the family of the five-year-old Soweto child‚ who residents say fell victim to a ritual killing. 

Griebenow‚ one of Port Elizabeth’s foremost defence attorneys‚ represented the second suspect accused of involvement in the murder of teacher Jayde Panayiotou‚ who was found shot dead after being kidnapped outside her townhouse in 2015.

• Church members meet with mayor over 'sex pest' pastorCongregants from the Port Elizabeth branch of a ministry led by an alleged sex pest pastor from Durban have had a meeting with mayor Athol Trollip. 

Griebenow has represented some high-profile cases‚ such as defending serial killer Stewart “Boetie Boer” Wilkens‚ who was charged with 10 counts of murder and five counts of sodomy in 1997. He also represented a group of alleged mercenaries who were held in Zimbabwe on suspicion of being involved in a planned coup in Equatorial Guinea.

There was speculation that the pastor might hand himself over to the Hawks in Port Elizabeth on Thursday afternoon‚ but this could not be confirmed.

Griebenow said his client was only meeting with police.

"He is not planning to hand himself over. The police have not indicated that there is a warrant of arrest. He will meet with them later but it is only an interview‚" Griebenow told HeraldLIVE.

- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE/HeraldLIVE