By Dipo Olowookere
Founder of Sotitobire Praising Chapel, Prophet Babatunde Alfa, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a court sitting in Ondo State.
The cleric was sent to the prison on Tuesday by Justice Olusegun Odusola of the Ondo State High Court in Akure along with five others.
The judge found the spiritualist and the others guilty of the disappearance of the one-year-old son of a member of the church.
Prophet Alfa had been in the news for several months after a toddler named Gold Kolawole was declared missing in the church in 2019.
The boy had gone to the church based in Akure with his parents and sibling and was reportedly handed over to the children’s department of the church.
However, after the church service on the fateful day, the whereabouts of Master Gold could not be ascertained and efforts to reunite him with his parents proved abortive.
This incident caused tension in the area and led to the arrest of the church owner, who was accused of using the boy for ritual purposes. His church was burnt down by some irate youths in the area after it was alleged that the Ondo State Police Command was attempting to cover the matter.
He was later arraigned by the police after he was apprehended by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) and today, after appearing in court for months, he was found guilty of the allegations against him and convicted by Justice Odusola.
Prophet Alfa was found them guilty of the two-count charge of kidnapping and aiding and abetting to kidnap based on the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution.
The other five persons convicted by the judge today were Margaret Oyebola, Esther Kayode, Grace Ogunjobi, Omodara Olayinka and Egunjobi Motunrayo.
As at press time, it could not be confirmed if Prophet Alfa will appeal the judgement, which he has a right to do.
