Ayorinde Owolabi, the brother of a hotelier, Olugbenga Owolabi, who was abducted and killed along with two others on August 3, recounts the heartbreaking incident in this interview with OLAMIDE FAMUWAGUN

Can you narrate how your brother was abducted and killed?

Some armed men came to my brother’s hotel, Tala Suites, around 7pm in the Aba area of Ogbomosho. They were heavily armed. There were seven of them, and they initially took two ladies who were working in the hotel. They started asking who the director was, and he (my brother) answered that he was the director. He told them that they didn’t need to take the two girls. They took all three of them but later dropped one. They left with Rachael and my brother.

The following day, they called me through the girl’s phone around 3pm that they needed N100m as ransom, but I told them that I didn’t have that amount. They told me not to worry that my brother had pleaded with them and the money had been reduced to N50m. I begged them to reduce it to N2m or N3m, but they insisted on N50m.

By Saturday, they called me again and I told them that N1.4m had been raised, but they said I wasn’t serious. In the evening of the same day, they called me again and I told them I had been able to raise N2m.

By Monday, I already had N5m and I had told them, but they again insisted that they would not take anything less than N50m; I broke down crying and pleading with them. On that Monday evening, they called me and said I should bring the money, but that Monday was a public holiday, so I told them there was no way I would be able to get the money in cash since banks would not be open that day.

They gave my brother the phone to speak to me, and he told me to go to a particular point-of-sale (POS) in Ogbomosho. I went there, but I didn’t succeed in getting the money. When they called back, I told them that they should wait till the next day.

On Tuesday morning, my brother spoke to me, and he was in very high spirits because I told him the money was ready. I put the money in a bag and went to the traditional ruler’s place in Aba. While I was there, they called me, and I asked if I should bring the money; they said it didn’t matter who brought the money.  The Alaba of Aba told me that it might be dangerous for me to go and drop the money since I had an uncanny resemblance to my brother. He said they could take me after releasing my brother so as to get the balance of N50m which they initially requested.

They called again, and someone at the palace told me that he would carry it for me instead. I was relieved a bit because the guy that had volunteered to go was strong traditionally. He picked the bag and when they called around 6pm, they asked that we come to Winners Chapel at Ogbomosho. The guy picked a bike man; the abductors only attended to them around 9pm.

They (the abductors) told them to turn on their phone flashlight, put the phone on speaker and put it on their head. They took both their phones and the money; two of them with guns were manning the bike man while another two were manning the man with the money. They counted the money and confirmed it was complete. They asked them to move down where they (the bike man and the man with the money) met my brother and the girl lying down. They asked my brother if he knew the man with the money, but he said no. They asked the bike man and the other man to lie down with my brother and the girl. The abductors were speaking the Fulani language.

Two others joined them, and they moved back a little and started shooting them. The four of them were shot dead, but the fourth person, who was the man who went with the money, did not die because of his traditional charm. He was the one who relayed everything that happened to me. Around 12am, when the police in the area were informed, they told us they couldn’t do any searching at that time. It was around 3 o’clock when I was informed of my brother’s death. I fainted, and it was only after a while that I got myself.

What was the relationship between you and your brother like?

We were very close. I am 10 years older than he is, but we were close.

How did the family raise the ransom?

His immediate family is in deep sorrow. His wife isn’t happy with the way the Nigerian government is handling the matter. It’s a huge blow for the family.

What will you miss about him?

I will miss his humour. He was very humorous and even his staff had nice memories of him. He didn’t deserve this, but the country failed him.

What is your advice after all of this?

All I will advise is that the Fulani bandits are already with us and the war is close by. All over the Southwest, they’re there. They’re in every nook and cranny, and the government should get ready so that they don’t succeed.