A Nigerian pastor named Michael Oluronbi, along with his wife Juliana, has been handed a 34-year prison sentence in the United Kingdom.

This comes after Oluronbi was convicted of committing sexual crimes against six women and one man. Oluronbi’s heinous acts spanned over two decades, during which he manipulated his victims into participating in “spiritual bathing” rituals under the guise of cleansing them of evil spirits.

The pastor has been sentenced to 34 years behind bars for the multiple counts of rape he committed against members of his congregation. He was convicted of “fifteen counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault and at least 88 separate occasions on which he raped his victims.”

Birmingham Crown Court heard that some of the victims became pregnant multiple times, but Olurnobi would take them to abortion clinics, as a cover-up for the abuse.

His wife was jailed for 11 years for three counts of aiding and abetting rape, as she assisted Olurnobi in arranging abortions for the victims. Both defendants will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

Oluronbi was linked to a Christian church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, whose roots were in Nigeria. He had set up his splinter group at another address and from where he began the “spiritual bathing.” The jury heard how the offences took place in Birmingham and London.

Sentencing “arrogant” Oluronbi on Friday, Judge Buckingham said:

“You claimed that God was instructing you to conduct holy baths. Its real purpose was to fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite. The children feared you and this enabled you to continue your grip. Your offending has had an extreme and severe impact on all of your complainants. Any attempt to suggest otherwise would be without foundation. You abused your position of trust – they trusted you like God.”

The judge continued:

“You did this because you are an arrogant, selfish and vain man. In my judgment, your offending must be one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts.”

When confronted about his offences, Oluronbi said “The devil made me do it”.

Phil Bradley QC, prosecuting, told the jury:

“The Crown’s case is that Mr Oluronbi used what he called ‘spiritual work’ as a subterfuge for that sexual abuse. The main tactic he employed was to claim that God had instructed him to administer ‘holy baths’ to some of his congregation to ‘cleanse’ them and protect them from evil influences. That activity began when his victims were children. There can be no doubt that its real purpose was to serve his sexual gratification.”

He added that for some of the female victims the offending “progressed to repeated rapes, on many occasions leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations”.

“You will learn that this man, who was revered and feared by his victims, kept a vice-like grip on many of them and continued to abuse them well into adulthood.”

The victims described him as “controlling” and “almost like a king”.

Oluronbi was arrested in May 2023, at Birmingham Airport while trying to leave the UK for Nigeria.