Little Gold Kolawole

Conviction of pastor, church workers over the missing toddler will serve as lesson to others in charge of security in churches

IT is still a mystery how little Gold Kolawole disappeared from Sotitobire Miracle Centre, Akure, Ondo State, in November last year. He was only a year old when he suddenly went missing during a service.

The conviction and imprisonment of the founder of the church, Pastor Samuel Babatunde, also known as Alfa Babatunde, and five church workers, in the case of the missing toddler, has not lightened the tragic disappearance.

An Ondo State high court, on October 6, found them guilty based on circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution.  They were sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiracy to commit felony, and life imprisonment for aiding and abetting kidnapping. They were tried under the Ondo State Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Abduction Law 2010.

On November 10, last year, the toddler’s mother had left him with church workers at the crèche. ”When I dropped him that morning during the service, I registered his name on number 87 on the list of the children in the crèche,” she said. According to her, it was the first time she had taken the boy to the church’s crèche since she and her husband started attending services there about five months earlier.

That was the beginning of the shocking case of mysterious disappearance. It turned out that her confidence in the church workers had been misplaced. Her account: “When it was 11:45am, I went back to check on my child but he was no longer there. I was told to look for him among the 200 children that were there or maybe someone had taken him out.

“When it was 3:00pm, they still could not find my son and the service was still ongoing. I began to search for him personally within the congregation. I later informed the pastor shortly after the church service at 5:30pm and he told me and my husband to stay calm, that the child would be found.”

It was not only the child’s parents that suspected foul play. An irate mob had razed the church following a false rumour that the body of the missing child had been found buried under the altar.  A policeman and a protester died during the violent protest.

The suspicion that the missing child might have been killed for ritual purposes speaks volumes about public perception of many churches that advertise supernatural feats. Such churches attract many naive miracle seekers. This case should serve as a lesson.

Sadly, the child’s disappearance further highlighted the prevalence of kidnapping in our society. The police arrested a man who tried to take advantage of the situation by posing as a kidnapper.

According to the police, the “self-confessed scammer and serial fraudster, one Chibuzor Elike, 39 years, of Etche town in Cross River, said he heard about the kidnap of young Gold via the social media” and “confessed that he actually called some people and sent some text messages where he stated that he had Kolawole Gold in his custody and will only release him after collecting N800, 000.”  This deplorable attempt to exploit the situation happened because kidnapping has become so common.

It is commendable that the trial was done without delay.  Justice Olusegun Odusola observed that the cleric was curiously apathetic, which suggested his involvement in the crime.  Importantly, the judge condemned the “complicity, connivance and compromise of the Ondo State Police Command,” which is bad publicity for the police. The boy’s mother had complained that the police were “used to harass and intimidate us.”

Tragically, little Gold Kolawole may never be found. His disappearance reflects lamentable social degeneracy. If a child is not safe in a church, it calls into question the moral foundations of our society.