Tears, emotions 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.”
