The United States of America government has retrieved the remains of a hotelier, Olugbenga Owolabi, who was abducted and killed by gunmen in his hometown, Ogbomoso, Oyo State.
Ayorinde Owolabi, the brother of the deceased said that United States government has given the Nigerian Government a time frame to find his killers.
Olugbenga and a worker at his hotel, Rachael Opadele, were abducted and killed by their abductors on 3 August.
Olugbenga, a US citizen, was said to be living in Maryland, US, and decided to invest in hospitality business in his hometown, Ogbomoso.
According to Ayorinde Owolabi: “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.”
He was eventually killed alongside his staff despite negotiation of ransome that was later paid.
His funeral held on 1 October at the Trinity Life Church, Maryland, US.
Ayorinde Owolabi, who spoke to Punch correspondent on Monday, claimed the US government asked the relevant security agencies in Nigeria to bring his brother’s killers to justice.
He said: “The American government wanted evidence (about his death) and they came down here to do a post-mortem. Another post-mortem was done in the US before the burial.
“His remains were taken from LAUTECH back to the US for burial. A death certificate was obtained at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital and also at the Delaware State Military Hospital, USA.”