Foundation for missing persons set to launch in Lagos, Nigeria -

Remi Owolabi-Ariye Foundation (ROAF), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to offering initial aid and support to families of missing persons in Nigeria, is set to be launched.

In a statement, Folasade Obasohan, co-founder of ROAF, said the Foundation is an initiative by the siblings of Remi Owolabi-Ariye, who went missing 13 years ago and is yet to be found.

According to Obasohan, “It is estimated by a BBC report that more than eight million people go missing around the world each year; the situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or befitting funeral resulting when a person goes missing is extremely painful, with long-lasting impact on families and friends as in the case of our beloved Remi Owolabi-Ariye who went missing in Lagos, on April 3rd, 2009.

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She said the Foundation, ROAF, is named after Remi Owolabi-Ariye with the vision of offering initial aid and support in the form of financial, emotional and psychological assistance to the immediate families of missing persons and victims of associated trauma and distress in Nigeria.

Yemi Adenuga, the chairman of the Foundation said that ROAF will also guide, liaise and assist the immediate families of missing persons on how to productively engage the law enforcement agencies to publicise, enquire, investigate and procure useful information towards the possible whereabouts or discovery of missing persons in Nigeria.

“We are doing this in the hope that no family will experience what the Remi Owolabi-Ariye’s family did,” she added.

The launch will be held at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja in August, 2022.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.