The sudden and mysterious disappearance of Olaloye Olatunde from a popular hotel in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has created tension in the state.
Olatunde is the Vice Principal of Ipele Community High School, Owo, in the Owo Local Council Area of Ondo State.
According to the wife of the missing vice principal, Mrs. Adenike Olaloye, she lost contact with her husband last Wednesday after travelling to the hotel in Akure for a workshop where he was invited as a participant. She is now hospitalised after breaking her leg during the search for her husband.
She disclosed that her husband travelled from Owo to Akure on Sunday, August 24, 2025, to attend a week-long Child Labour Programme organised by Trace Project Akure in partnership with Charakids Foundation. She said that he called her after checking into Sunview Hotel, Alagbaka, where all participants were lodged.
She said: “We spoke regularly until Wednesday,” she recalled. “By Friday, his phone was no longer reachable. The seminar was supposed to end that day, but I never heard from him again.
“I was the one who arranged his bag before he travelled. That same bag was what they later found in his hotel room. Sadly, they had already packed it out without telling me.”
The missing vice principal’s elder brother, Mr. Zacheus Olaloye, accused the hotel of not cooperating with the family in the search for his sibling, stressing that efforts to access the hotel’s CCTV footage have been frustrating.
“When my brother’s wife called me to say that she hadn’t seen my brother, I went to Sunview. The staff initially told me that all participants had checked out. However, later I discovered that the bag they said was abandoned was actually my brother’s, with his clothes and shoes still inside.
“We tried to preview the footage, but nothing worked. Later, the management showed us a grainy video of a man walking out of the premises. But that wasn’t my brother. The figure wasn’t clear at all,” he said.
He further alleged that neither the NGOs nor the hotel reached out to the family formally after Olatunde disappeared, adding that “Sunview has not called us, and the organisers have done nothing tangible to help us find my brother. We are the ones chasing everyone. They should help us.”
While reacting to the development, the manager of Sunview Hotel, Kenneth Ekpeyong, and another staff member, Mrs Oluwaseyi Adebayo, stated that all participants were well accounted for, stressing that “On August 24, 49 participants arrived, later increasing to 58. On Friday, we organised an Asun Night for them as part of our hospitality package. Some left that night, while others checked out on Saturday.”
According to Adebayo, one of the facilitators instructed the hotel to clear the belongings in Room 305, claiming the occupant had travelled to sign teachers’ salary vouchers.
“We used our master card to open the room, packed the bag, and documented it. Later, we were told it was the vice principal’s bag. From our CCTV, we saw him on Wednesday and then again on Thursday morning, August 28, at exactly 6:17 a.m., when he walked out of the hotel and never returned. That is why the room was eventually opened,” he said.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olayinka Ayanlade, confirmed that investigations have commenced, with an appeal to the public to provide information that will assist in locating the missing vice principal.
“The command has launched an investigation into the mystery surrounding his disappearance. We call on members of the public to provide any useful information that can assist us in unravelling the case,” he said.
The Guardian
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