“I was surprised to hear that out of the 13 brothers who had finished postulancy, seven were performing homosexual acts.”
Editor’s note: The actual name of the accused priest and the victim have been changed.
A homosexuality scandal may have broken up in the Catholic Church in Nigeria following the conclusion of investigations into allegations of sexual abuse against a priest at the Catholic Diocese of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
After two separate verdicts of guilty and not-guilty, the church ordered that the accused, Reverend Father Kenneth, be formally warned to steer clear of scandals.
The Bishop of Ijebu-Ode, Most Rev. Francis Adesina, in a letter dated July 30, 2025, said the verdict to rebuke Father Kenneth was reached in accordance with canon laws.
The decision, however, led to calls for a review of the case, including imposition of stricter sanctions, amid claims of cover-up and ongoing risks to children in the church.
The whistleblower, Bayo, claimed that no fewer than nine “brothers” were sexually abused by the priest, who also allegedly introduced them to homosexuality.
The 33-year-old also stated that all the evidence he submitted was not forwarded to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Catholic church’s disciplinary office in Rome.
The complainant expressed fear that some of those involved in the alleged homosexual acts with the reverend father had become priests and might be doing the same thing to children under their care.
Narrating the series of abuse he allegedly suffered, Bayo claimed that his ordeal started when he was barely 14 years old.
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