Mrs. Bukola Ayeni, a Nigerian mother, and a pastor identified as Ola John, are trading blame as an 18-year-old girl, Mariam Rauf, went missing in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

The Nation learnt that the girl left home on March 29 for an unknown destination.

It was gathered that Mariam, a pupil of Baptist Girls School, Osogbo left home without disclosing her destination to anybody.

However, it was suspected that she had relocated to the eastern part of the country to start a new life by selling herbal medicine.

The distraught mother, narrating the incident to The Nation yesterday, said: “My daughter bed-wets. We sought help to stop the problem. A woman, simply identified as Lara, introduced us to Pastor Ola John. She assured us that he would find solution to the problem. I agreed and the pastor solved her problem of bedwetting.

“However, the pastor said she needs to be sleeping in the church and I agreed. She spends most of her time in the church, while she only comes home once in a while to prepare for school.

“There was a time she told me that Pastor John seized her phone and I later found out through Lara that the pastor seized her phone after he got to know that she was dating one Dayo in the church. She was learning hairdressing in the shop of my area sister. “

Mrs. Ayeni said her daughter left home for school on March 29 and since then she had not returned.

“When I did not see her, I looked for her in the church, school and the place she was learning hairdressing, I could not find her. I checked where she kept her clothes and shoes I realised that she had absconded.

“I informed Pastor John that my daughter had absconded and he told me that I victimised her. I threatened him that I would get him arrested. He went to report the case at a police station. He was detained. When I appeared at the station, I was also detained. We were later granted bail and we did a public service announcement about my missing daughter.”

The woman alleged: “Pastor John incited my daughter against me that I was not taking good care of her.”

When The Nation contacted Pastor John, he said did not know about the girl’s whereabouts.

Contacted, police spokesperson Mrs. Yemisi Opalola asked for more time to respond to the issue.

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