The pastor of a new generation church in the Lekki area of Lagos State has landed himself in hot waters over a leaked sex video of him and his estranged lover. Apostle Chris Omatsola, the Presiding Pastor of Zionwealth of Life Assembly, has not only had his reputation rubbished but has also been detained by the police preparatory to being charged to court, according to a report this morning in The PUNCH. The randy cleric, according to the report, confessed on tape to the crime and begged for forgiveness but claimed in an interview with the paper that he did so under duress.

Accounts by both Pastor Omatsola and his estranged lover, Tamaratokoni Okpe, indicated that they met in February this year and dated for about seven months, during which they had sexual intercourse, which was filmed and also photographed. The “lurid video emerged on the Internet” shortly after they broke up, the report said.

While Okpe, who alleged constant physical assault, accused Omatsola of releasing the video to force her into marriage with him, the cleric told the paper that the video was leaked to blackmail him.

On the origin of the sex videos, Okpe said: “I met Apostle Chris Kevwe Omatsola, the founder and pastor of Zionwealth of Life Assembly (Zola) in Lekki, Lagos, and we started dating in February 2018. It quickly escalated to a sexual relationship and when we had sex the first time, he told me that we should make it right by getting married. We continued our romance and one of the things we did together was recording videos and taking pictures of our intimacy.

“I informed my mum about a guy coming for my hand in marriage and she said she was going to pray about it. Everything was rosy until he became violent and constantly beat me up till I bled. He came begging after each episode and I forgave him.”

She said she became fed up with the relationship in July and ended it the next month but the angry pastor threatened to ruin her life by releasing the sex videos so that no man would marry her.

Okpe, a Computer Science graduate, reported the case to the police following the leaking of the sex videos and Omatsola was arrested the following day.

Defending himself, Omatsola told PUNCH: “I never did anything of that nature and she does not have anything to prove it (assault). How do you, a popular pastor with a church in Lekki Phase One, leak your own sex video with your face on it? How does that work?

“That video (confessional video) was done under duress because I was picked up by the same lady and she demanded N200m (from me) for leaking the video, which I did not leak. She has it on her phone and I have it on my phone. So, she picked me up. My dad and the lawyer agreed that I should do a (confessional) video and it was under duress.”

Reacting to the pastor’s claims, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said: “Take anything coming from that man with a pinch of salt because we have established that he is a liar and an imposter. We have established that he has committed a heinous crime against a woman that once loved him. If he could commit the offence against the woman, lying against the police is a piece of cake for him. The confessional video he claimed that he was forced to make was done in the comfort of his car.”

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