School Vice Principal Disappears After Attending Seminar; Police Launch Investigation

Police in Ondo State have launched an investigation into the disappearance of Olaloye Olatunde, Vice Principal of Ipele Community High School, Owo, following his attendance at a seminar in Akure. Only his personal belongings were found in the hotel room where he had lodged.

Olatunde reportedly traveled from Owo to Akure last Sunday to attend a Child Labour Programme organized by Trace Project Akure in partnership with Charakids Foundation. His wife, Adenike Olaloye, said he called her after checking into a hotel in Alagbaka, where all seminar participants were accommodated. “We spoke regularly until Wednesday. By Friday, his phone was no longer reachable. The seminar was supposed to end that day, but I never heard from him again,” she said. She added that the bag she had packed for him was later found in the hotel room, but had already been removed without her knowledge.

Zacheus Olaloye, the missing man’s elder brother, said he went to the hotel after being informed by his sister-in-law. “The staff initially told me that all participants had checked out. Later, I discovered the bag they said was abandoned was my brother’s, with his clothes and shoes still inside,” he said. He added that attempts to review CCTV footage were inconclusive, with only a grainy image of a man leaving the premises, who could not be positively identified as his brother.

The family reported the matter to the police at the Zone 17 AIG office and were later directed to the state’s Anti-Kidnapping Squad. Zacheus also lamented that neither the seminar organizers nor the hotel had formally contacted the family.

Hotel management said all participants were accounted for until Friday evening. Manager Kenneth Ekpeyong stated that 49 participants initially arrived on August 24, later increasing to 58, and that an “Asun Night” was organized for them as part of the hotel’s hospitality. Staff member Oluwaseyi Adebayo explained that a facilitator instructed the hotel to clear the belongings in Room 305, claiming the occupant had traveled to sign teachers’ salary vouchers. “We used our master key to open the room, packed the bag, and documented it. Later we were told it was the vice principal’s bag,” she said. Adebayo added that CCTV footage showed Olatunde on Wednesday and Thursday morning, when he left the hotel and did not return.

The state police command spokesperson, Ayanlade Olayinka, confirmed that the Anti-Kidnapping Unit has begun an investigation and urged members of the public to provide any information that could assist in locating Olatunde.