Missing child: Appeal Court frees church founder, Sotitobire, from life imprisonment

The Court of Appeal in Akure, the Ondo State, on Friday set aside the judgement of Ondo State High Court that sentenced Babatunde Alfa, the founder of Sotitobire Praising Chapel to life imprisonment.

Alfa was sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Segun Odusola of an Akure High Court over the disappearance of a child in his church in 2019.

In the lead judgement, the Presiding Judge, Justice Hammah Barka ruled that the circumstantial evidence the High Court based its judgement on was not enough to convict the 43-year-old prophet.

However, Justice Barka rejected the plea of the counsel to the appellant, Gboyega Awomolo (SAN), who was represented by Akinyemi Omoware, that that Department of State Services (DSS) cannot investigate the crime.

Justice Odusola had in June 2020 sentenced Prophet Alfa to life imprisonment over what he described as his complicity in the mysterious disappearance of a 13-month-old boy, Gold Kolawole, from his church.

Prophet Alfa was sentenced by the lower court alongside five workers of his church on a two-count charge of conspiracy as well as another abetting kidnapping.

The others convicted church workers who were teachers in the children’s department were: Omodara Olayinka, Margaret Oyebola, Grace Ogunjobi, Egunjobi Motunrayo and Esther Kayode.

Following his conviction by the lower court, Prophet Alfa approached the Court of Appeal to nullify the life imprisonment judgment.