Midwest City pastor arrested for sexual battery and kidnapping
Jan 15, 2025
MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (KFOR) — A Midwest City pastor was arrested this week for sexual battery and kidnapping connected to his cleaning business.
Enoch Ankiwale is a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God Oasis of Love Parish in Midwest City with his wife.
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The day before his arrest, according to the stream on the church's Facebook page he preached a sermon centered around forgiveness going into the new year saying in part, "Don't focus on your past," and "God says let bygones be bygones."
Akinwale has had the cleaning company Bakafe LLC. for almost 15 years but the allegations start back as recent as last November.
According to court records, several victims came forward claiming they knew even more victims who quit because of the alleged sexual harassment.
One victim told police that Akinwale was contracted by Willowbrook Construction Services to conduct cleaning at a metro apartment complex.
He allegedly only wanted to hire Hispanic women, who didn't speak English; one victim said he denied her husband, saying just that.
A victim said that she remembered one moment when Akinwale sexually touched her while she was working. He allegedly told her she was beautiful and grabbed her from behind. She quit after this.
Another victim told police that when she was walking up the stairs, he came up from behind, groped her, and called her beautiful. She said he followed her into an apartment and allegedly trapped her in the bathroom.
While she was cleaning, she told police that she said no several times and she couldn't leave. He allegedly proceeded to grope her several times and pushed her against the sink. At one point she said she tried to elbow him in the head to get him off of her, but he grabbed her arm and blocked her.
That specific victim said that she couldn't understand what he was saying but knew he repeatedly kept licking his lips and saying the word, "Durex," a condom label. She told police she believed he was attempting to pay her for sex by the words she did not understand and his actions.
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Several victims allegedly showed police text messages where Akinwale tried apologizing to the women. One of the victims said he kept texting, "Sorry, sorry."
Another victim was expected to be interviewed sometime this week, court records showed that there could be more who quit soon after being hired for these specific reasons.
Ankiwale's cleaning business is called Bakafe LLC according to the secretary of state's website.
Wallbrook told News 4 that if he was contracted, they would look at this and his past, and wouldn't be hiring him again.
News 4 went to an address listed that connects to his cleaning business, and his wife/pastor at Oasis of Love, Funke Ankiwale, answered the door.
"He's not here and we need to talk to our lawyer," she said.
Ankiwale was released within 24 hours of being arrested, supposedly posting his $75,000 bond.
He was arrested Monday by Oklahoma City police for two counts of sexual battery and one count of kidnapping.