A Nigerian mother has told the story of how her one-year-old baby was kidnapped in a church in Ondo state.
The prophet at the Sotitobire Miracle Centre, in Akure, Alfa
Babatunde, and some members of the church are currently answering
questions at the office of the State Security Services (SSS) in
connection with the disappearance of a one-year-old, Gold Kolawole, at
the church’s crèche section on November 10.
On Wednesday, his church and his residence were attacked and razed by a
mob acting on a rumour that the body of the missing child has been found
in the church after it was exhumed from the church’s altar.
The rumour has been debunked by the police as fake news. Wednesday’s
fracas has left a policeman and one of the protesters dead, besides the
damage of properties.
There is currently an air of uncertainty surrounding the issue,
especially given the violence that has been introduced into the case.
The involvement of the SSS came on heels of complaints by the family of
the missing boy that the police, which initially commenced investigation
on the matter, were not doing enough to find the missing child.
While the prophet had claimed innocence, the SSS has held on to him for
over a week, while other key members of the church have also been
arrested for questioning.
Traumatised
In spite of the moves by the security agencies, the parents of Gold,
Modupe and Temitope Kolawole, are still grieving over the loss, hoping
that the renewed search by the SSS would yield some fruits.
Mrs Kolawole told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview that she is not
finding it easy to cope without her son, who was taken away from her
while she was at a church to worship God.
“We have searched everywhere and we are still searching, we are yet to find my boy,” she said, in a very sombre tone. “I
am convinced that I will find my child, I know I will find him. Whoever
has taken the child should return my child, and that is all I am
asking.”
Mrs Kolawole had attended the church service that Sunday morning to
worship God with her son, and took him to the crèche section of the
church on the advice of the church administration. By the time the
church service was over and people were returning home with their
children, Gold was nowhere to be found.
She raised the alarm and reported the matter to the church authorities, but nothing positive came out of it.
Although the police had begun an investigation into the matter, the SSS
has since taken the founder of the church, Alfa Babatunde, into custody
over the matter.
It was in June this year that she first set her foot on the church
premises, being invited by a family friend, who thought their spiritual
life would be better if they attended the church.
According to her, when she first attended the church, she noticed that
the church prayed fervently “like the old time churches” and she thought
that as a young couple, she and her husband would benefit from the
feeling of power noticed around the church.
She also said that she was attracted to the church when she heard
wonderful testimonies of miracles told by members of the church every
time at the church services.
But her case was not to be so. She came with joy, but returned with sorrow, a deep one she is still battling to vanquish.
In her effort to recover her child, she had brought the case before the
paramount ruler of the Akure kingdom, the Deji of Akure, where an oath
was taken to curse whoever took the child. The leadership of the church
declared their innocence.
But that has not yielded any result. In fact, Mrs Kolawole was told by
those who are well acquainted with such practice that she should look
elsewhere as that oath taking was a mere formality.
Even dealings with the police had shown that she was tackling a very
powerful personality who might not be ruffled by what had happened as
the police dallied over the situation without concrete steps towards
unravelling the mystery behind the missing child.
She complained about the posturing of the police during her encounter, saying they showed they were not willing to do much.
“We are talking about a ‘whole’ child. There is no way I can cope.
But I am still believing and hoping that the child will be found,” she said when asked how she was coping with the absence of her only child Gold.
What transpired
Narrating how it all started, Mrs Kolawole said she had often been told
to take her son to the crèche section, but refused because her son was
small and had yet to walk.
She said she later changed her mind and went to drop her child there for
the first time, when she thought that it could hasten Gold’s ability to
walk when he begins to see other children walking.
On that Sunday morning as she arrived at the church, she said she went
to drop the child at the section and registered him as required by the
rules of the church.
She had returned mid-service to inspect her son, and she noticed that
there was an adjustment in the sitting position and some food other than
what she prepared for him was being offered to the child. She protested
and insisted that his food pack contained enough food.
She had left on that note, but when she returned the child was not
found, neither could any of the 14 caregivers at the section account for
the missing child.
Mrs Kolawole would not accept any explanations.
In fact there was no explanations from anywhere. She was told, perhaps
someone came to take him away. She ran everywhere, harassing other
children in their cars as they were being driven away by their parents.
“I was harassing everybody, checking whether my child was there and I did not see him, but no way until night,” she lamented.
At the end of the day, it was clear someone had taken her child away.
One day had passed, then one week and now it is a whole month and a
week, still no traces of the child.
Foul play?
She told PREMIUM TIMES that from the very beginning of the issue, she
suspected foul play from the church authorities and would hold them
responsible for the disappearance of the child.
The first pointer to her claims, according to Mrs Kolawole, was that
when she went to check on the child in the middle of the church service.
The child was being fed with food other than the one she brought in his
food pack and his seat was turned away from the direction she left him
when she first brought the child into the arena.
She said she had protested against the action knowing full well that the
act was contrary to the practice in that section. However, after her
protest, she left the child and returned to the main hall.
After her son was declared missing, the founder of the church, Alfa
Babatunde, who had promised to ensure the child was found, did not want
the matter immediately reported to the police, urging the parents to
return home and be calm while efforts would be made by the church to
find the child.
“I suspect someone that I thought was just an ordinary member,
but I realised he was so close to the pastor. He was snapping my baby’s
pictures and was asking about my husband, wanting to know who my husband
is. He was just a church member. When the situation happened, the same
guy was the first person that saw me where I went to drop my child. When
I realised that the child was kidnapped, this guy was the first to show
concern.
“During the church service, the guy was sitting behind me in the church
hall. The period the incident happened, the pastor declared a 30 minutes
prayer. He said whoever did not close his eyes during the prayer will
die before December. I also realised that the guy at the time was no
longer behind my back. The pastor also was strolling behind me for like
30 minutes. Immediately after the prayer I got to realise that my child
was missing.
“While I was looking for my child, this guy was the one showing the
caring attitude, asking what has my husband done, and trying to know
every step that had been taken. He was there from then till the night.
Another suspicious thing I noticed was that that same Sunday night while
the pastor was in his office, it was only this man that was walking
towards that office intermittently fiddling with his phone.
“While we were invited to the Anti-kidnapping office, this same guy came
to the place with the pastor’s car. While we went to the Deputy
Commissioner of Police, the same guy was also there. We got to realise
that he is so close to the pastor.
“Right now, once we started suspecting him we can’t even find the guy
anymore. As the matter proceeded, the church and the pastor presented
another person entirely as the (suspect). The guy I am talking about is
well known to me. I knew him for long, even my aunty and my sister
–in-law knew him very well, especially the way he showed caring
attitude.
“Another thing that raised my suspicion was that there are 14 ushers in
the children’s section, comprising 12 female and two males. While we
were at the anti-kidnapping office only a man (was) among them. At the
Deji of Akure’s palace, only two men came. When we went to the Deputy
Commissioner of Police’s office, only two other workers were brought,
not the entire 14 workers. The last time the Kabiyesi (king) sent for
us, they came with three men with the senior workers.
“He kept changing them. At the Commissioner of Police’s office, he came
with six men. At every of the meetings he made sure that only two of the
workers were consistent and they are the ones we are suspecting are
directly involved. One of them was the HOD (head of department) that
asked me to drop my child at the section and asked me to register the
child and the other one who actually registered the child, even though I
had initially argued that my child was still too small to go there. The
pastor himself also failed to show up in most of the invitations during
the period.”
Denial
Meanwhile, the prophet has denied all the allegations against him, saying he had nothing to do with the missing child.
He also said the parents of the child had not shown ‘enough commitment’ and that he had offered to help in anyway.
He also complained of the family of the parents of the child attacking
the church premises and destroying properties over the issue.
The Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Femi Joseph, said
investigations were at an advanced stage and the police were in the
process of charging some persons to court over the matter. He denied
that the police were lackadaisical in the handling of the matter and
that the involvement of the SSS would not take anything away from what
the police are doing.
“The SSS has the right to investigate any matter. They are an independent agency and they can investigate,” said Mr Joseph. “But that does not affect our own investigations and it does not indict the police in anyway.”
Efforts to get the SSS to comment on the development had yet to yield results.
No official statement has been made from the Akure office of the agency.
Peter Afunanya, the agency’s spokesman, asked this reporter to send a
text message on Tuesday, but at the time of filing this report, his
response was yet to be sent.
Source: PREMIUM TIMES
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