There was much weeping and wailing on Monday, as church members beheld the ugly spectacle of the General Overseer of Sotitobire Miracle Centre, Akure, Alfa Babatunde, climbing the Black Maria, on his way to prison, where he would be resident for a while.
Babatunde, was ordered to be detained at Olokuta Correctional Centre, Akure, by an Akure Chief Magistrate court over the disappearance of a one-year-old boy, Gold Kolawole, in his church, which has raised a lot of dust in the state.
Before now, the cleric, had lost his church, after some irate residents set it ablaze over the rumour that the little boy, whose mother left in the crèche section, was actually buried in the alter of the church.
The police in the state, however debunked the allegation, with Femi Joseph, the spokesman of the Ondo State Police Command, dismissing it as said fake news.
The Department of State Services (DSS) had arraigned Babatunde before an Akure magistrate’s court on two counts of felony and kidnap, alongside six others: Omodara Olayinka Margaret Oyebola, Grace Ogunjobi, Egunjobi Motunrayo, Esther Kayode and Peter Anjorin.
The DSS had earlier arrested Babtunde following a petition on the parents of the missing child.
At the end of the court session on Monday, members of the church wept openly as Babatunde was ordered into a “Black Maria” for his journey to the prison.