A Nigerian High Court on Thursday, July 1, sentenced a cleric, Prophet Olakanye Oni, to life imprisonment over the death of a woman.

Prophet Oni was accused of killing one Mrs Gbadamosi Omowale, who came to his church to seek help over her inability to conceive after seven years of marriage.

Mrs Omowale took ill and her health deteriorated after the cleric carried out a “spiritual cleansing” on her.

According to the prosecution team, the convicted cleric committed the offence after “he invited the deceased from Lagos to Ado Ekiti under the pretext that he has a solution to her barrenness.

“On getting to his church at Palace of Mercy, Mathew Street, Odo Ado Area, Ado Ekiti, the convict hypnotised the victim and lured her into his room. He, thereafter, spread a white cloth on her and raped her.

“The convict used a white handkerchief to clean the victim’s private part and inserted a substance believed to be potash into her vagina. He also collected a sum of 52,000 Naira from the victim.

“The victim’s private part got decayed as a result of the substance inserted into it by the convict and this resulted in the victim’s eventual death.”

The development was first communicated to the Council of Chiefs who banished the cleric following the death of the woman, Lindaikejiblog reports.

Unsatisfied with the ruling, the family involved the police and Prophet Oni was arrested.

After the case was carefully dissected over a seven-year period with six witnesses testifying against the prophet, he was handed the life sentence.

In his judgement, Justice Abiodun Adesodun held that the prosecution proved the offence of manslaughter beyond reasonable doubt.