Justice Olusegun Odusola of the Ondo State High Court has sentenced the Founder of Sotitobire Praising Chapel, Pastor Samuel Babatunde, also known as Alfa Babatunde, to life imprisonment over the disappearance of a one-year-old boy, Gold Kolawole, in his church.
The one-year-old boy was declared missing on November 10, 2019, during a church service at the children’s section of Sotitobire Praying Ministry located at Oshinle Quarters in Akure, the state capital.
The clergyman was arrested, alongside seven other members of the church, and was arraigned before a magistrate’s court on six counts. The matter was later transferred to the state High Court.
Delivering his judgment in the case today Tuesday, October 6, Justice Odusola said based on the evidence provided by the prosecution team, the clergyman and the five others were found guilty of two counts of kidnapping, and aiding and abetting to kidnap. He thereafter sentenced them to life imprisonment.