Emotions ran high on Friday when family members and friends gathered to inter the remains of a final student of the Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Rachael Opadele, at the Baptist Conference Cemetery, Aroje, Ogbomoso.
Opadele was abducted by gunmen last week alongside Mr Olugbenga Owolabi; owner of a hotel where she worked part-time due to the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities. They were both killed on Wednesday by their abductors despite payment of N5m ransom.
Owolabi was said to be living in Maryland, United States of America and recently decided to invest in a hospitality business in Ogbomoso. The hotel was said to have been opened in December 2021 and he was killed a few months after.
Sources said he travelled outside of the country a few weeks ago and only returned to Ogbomoso the day he was kidnapped by the hoodlums.
Rachael’s corpse was taken from the mortuary to the burial for interment witnessed by the deceased’s two siblings, members of the First Baptist Church, Abaa and the Lydia Auxiliary, a unit she belonged to in the church.
The pastor in charge of the church, Rev. Gbenga Adedokun, in a brief sermon at the cemetery said security should be prioritised by those in government.
Adedokun said, “Death does not strike according to age. There are times the younger person will be taken and the older ones will be spared by death. Death is the end of all but nobody knows the time. That is why we must all be ready. Age doesn’t determine who the next to die is but judgment is fixed for all.
“The poor, the rich, the young and the old will stand to give account of their sojourn here on earth before the throne of God. Nobody knows who the next person is but judgment is fixed.”
The bereaved mother, Mrs Grace Opadele, in a brief interview with our correspondent on Friday said that she couldn’t query God over the incident.
She said, “I cannot query God over the incident. Rachael had many dreams which I cannot mention all. The request I want is that the government should tackle insecurity with seriousness. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone. It’s a painful thing which I don’t want others to experience.
“I also want the government to find a permanent solution to the problem of ASUU. I am not seeking justice. I am not interested in any case. The governor should address insecurity and the problem in the education sector. Those are the two requests I make of the government.”
The management of LAUTECH during a condolence visit to the mother of the murdered student described the killing as saddening, while praying to God to console the family.
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the institution’s spokesperson, Mr Lekan Fadeyi, said the government was working to improve security in the area. He said the university had told the family to make available to it any information they wanted to escalate concerning the case.
Apart from the two victims killed by the gunmen, they also shot dead a commercial motorcycle rider popularly called Okada rider contacted to convey the N5m ransom bearer to the kidnappers’ den, Mr Idowu Ajagbe. But the ransom bearer luckily escaped with gunshot injuries. He was said to be the one who broke the news of the gunmen’s havoc after collecting the ransom.
The slain LAUTECH student who was studying Fine and Applied Arts was said to have started a part-time job at the hotel in the Abaa community close to the institution pending the suspension of the ASUU strike before hoodlums kidnapped her and the hotel owner on July 28 around 8pm at the hotel.
Our correspondent gathered that the lady’s father died some months ago back and the family had yet to overcome the grief when the kidnappers struck.
It was further gathered that there were cries at the homes of the bereaved families on Wednesday when news filtered in that the abductors killed them after collecting ransom.
The senseless killings sparked a massive protest in the community, forcing students and youths including commercial motorcycle riders to block the Ogbomoso-Ilorin highway.
The First Baptist Church, Abaa, was also hit hard by the killing because Rachael and the Okada rider, Ajagbe, were members of the church.
While Rachael was a member of Lydia Group in the church, Idowu was said to be the treasurer of the church. The death of the members was devastating to the church.
Adedokun told our correspondent that the motorcycle rider was contacted by the Baale of Abaa to assist in conveying the ransom bearer to the kidnappers and he obliged.
Adedokun said, “The Okada rider was our church treasurer and before any member can attain that position, they must have shown commitment, integrity and availability to the service of God.
“Rachael was a member of Lydia Auxiliary. Lydia Auxiliary is a union under Women Missionary Union (in Baptist churches). Last Sunday was Lydia Week for the year and the lady was slated to handle one of the programmes but she could not participate because she was abducted. Before then, she was always available. Her mother is also a member of the church. Her husband who was Rachael’s dad died late 2021.