[ 2016-08-22 ]

Arrest mothers of teenagers for backing Obinim – Lawyer
A private legal practitioner, who has sued the
International Godsway Church (IGC) and its
founder, Bishop Daniel Obinim, for the alleged
assault of two teenagers during a service, has
called for the arrest of the victims’ mothers
for defending the preacher’s actions.

The two mothers have come out in defence of
Obinim, stating that God was acting through him to
punish their children for their ‘immoral’
actions.


“God used Obinim to flog the children so that
other young people will learn from it and the
young ladies will take care of themselves. To me
it was very necessary because it is a lesson that
everybody should learn from,” one of the mothers
said.

However, Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu said that
although the comments from the mothers were
irrelevant to the case itself and does not
exonerate Obinim of his ‘crime’, the two women
should be arrested for condoning his actions.

“There are two clear issues as far as this case
is concerned. One of them has to do with the crime
that has been committed by Obinim by his conduct.
The fact that the mothers are saying they support
Obinim does not absolve Obinim of what he did,”
he told Citi News.

“Indeed if we had to press further, it means
that the CID would immediately have to arrest not
only Obinim but the mothers as well. It’s still
a constitutional infraction of the rights of these
children as enshrined in the constitution. All of
them must be arrested and questioned before we
even know how to proceed as far as the criminal
one is concerned.”

The video showing Obinim, whipping the two
teenagers with a belt during a service at the
church for allegedly engaging in sexual relations
and attempting to abort a subsequent pregnancy,
went viral on social media provoking condemnation
from most Ghanaians.


Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, on Friday, sued Obinim
and his church over the incident. The police have
indicated that they are looking into the matter,
while the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social
Protection has filed a complaint against Obinim at
the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit
(DOVVSU).

Another complaint had been reportedly been filed
against the controversial preacher at the Tema
General Office.

Sosu, along with Daniel Agbavor and Lawyer Irene
Aborchie, sued the preacher and the church over
the “violation of the 1992 Constitution, as it
relates to the protection of dignity of every
member of the Respondent’s Church who is a
Ghanaian whose rights are protected by the 1992
Constitution.”

According to him, they are seeking a declaration
from the court that similar actions done under the
guise of religion are unacceptable and must be
restrained.

“The litigation we are doing at the Human Rights
Court is a public interest litigation, it’s not
only about Obinim. We are seeking a declaration
that the exercise of religious freedoms that
violate the dignity of men must be restrained by
the Court. We are considering going to the Supreme
Court for a constitutional interpretation to that
effect,” he said.

Source - citifmonline.com

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