A pastor named Samuel Alade-Emin was remanded by an Ondo State Chief Magistrates Court in Akure, the state’s capital, over his suspected participation in the death of the son of one of his church members.
It was learned that the dead had been reported missing for seven days before being discovered in the care of the pastor in Alagbado village in the state’s Odigbo Local Government Area in August 2022.
The dead was named as Olasupo Abiona, and it was claimed that his mother was a well-known figure in the defendant’s church.
It was also learnt that the deceased died at an undisclosed hospital after consuming a suspected poisonous substance allegedly given to him by the defendant. To this end, the pastor was later arrested by the police and charged to court.
The defendant was arraigned before the court on a two-count charge bothering on deprivation of liberty and murder.
The police prosecutor, Nelson Akintimehin, informed the court that the defendant unlawfully detained the deceased, who was the son of one his church elders, in his custody against his wish, depriving him of his liberty.
According to Akintimehin, the defendant allegedly administered a substance suspected to be a poison to the deceased which made him to vomit blood that led to his death.
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The prosecutor said the offences committed contravened sections 365 and 316(5) of the Criminal Law of Ondo State, 2006.
The defendant however pleaded not guilty to the offence but his plea was not taken.
In his application, he prayed the court to keep the defendant at the correctional centre pending the outcome of advice from the state’s director of public prosecutions.
The counsel to the defendant, A. Motunrayo, prayed the court to grant her client bail in most liberal terms, insisting he was innocent.
In his ruling the Chief Magistrate, Musa Al-Yunus, ordered the remand of the defendant at the correctional center pending the advice from the state director of public prosecutions. He adjourned the case till February 9, 2023.
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