Murdered OAU student: Falana wins first round, gets FG to withdraw case from Abuja High court

Femi Falana SAN, the newly-appointed legal counsel to the Adegoke family, whose son, Timothy, a post-graduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) was allegedly murdered inside a hotel in Ile-Ife owned by Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, may have won the first round in the legal battle to secure justice for his client, as the Federal Government, through the police, Monday, withdrew the suit originally filed at the High Court of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting in Abuja.

Federal Government, which is the complainant, had notified the FCT court in Abuja that it was discontinuing the matter in a letter, titled, “Notice of Discontinuance of Charge No. CR/015/22 Brought pursuant to Section 108 of Administration of Criminal Act (ACJA) 2015.”

“Take notice that the Complainant discontinues all of the proceedings in this case against the above-named Defendants for further investigation, dated this 7th day of February 2022,” the notice read.

It would be recalled that the police had in January 2022 formally filed criminal charges against the owner of Hilton Hotel, ramon Adedoyin, and others over the death of Timothy Adegoke.

Controversy has surrounded Adegoke’s death since he went missing lodging at Hilton Hotel and Resort in Ile-Ife, Osun State, following which his corpse was later found in a grave.

The defendants in the suit are listed as; Dr Ramon Adedoyin, Adedeji Adesola, Magdalene Chiefuna, Adeniyi Aderogba, Oluwale Lawrence, Oyetunde Kazeem, Adebayo Adekunle, Prince Raheem Adedoyin, Esther Asigoh and Quadiri Moshood.

Those declared by the police to be still at large are; Raheem Adedoyin, Esther Asigoh and Quadiri Moshood.

However, counsel to the Adegoke family, Femi Falana SAN had earlier in January requested from the Inspector General of Police that the trial of all suspects arrested in connection with the student’s death at the hotel be moved to Osun State from Abuja.

The decision to move investigation and prosecution to Abuja was earlier suggested by the Adegoke family who had feared that the Osun police command may have been compromised in the matter, an option taken before the engagement of Falana as counsel.

Falana The lawyer had said the demand was made since none of the elements of the offence to be tried by the FCT High Court took place in Abuja.

“To our utter dismay, the arrested suspects have been arraigned before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on a 7-count charge of conspiracy to commit murder, murder, conspiracy to commit improper or indecent interference with the body of the deceased, uttering and intent to destroy evidence under the Penal Code.

“However, as all the aforesaid criminal offences were said to have been committed at Ile-Ife you will agree with us that the suspects ought to have been charged before a court of competent jurisdiction in Osun State.

“Consequently, we are compelled to request you to use your good offices to ensure that the case file is handed over to the Attorney-General of Osun State to enable him to study same with a view to filing relevant charges against the suspects at the High Court of Osun State.

“Having demonstrated professionalism and unusual courage in the handling of the investigation of the case we are confident that you will not hesitate to accede to our request in the interest of justice. Otherwise, we shall not hesitate to institute legal proceedings to compel you to ensure that the criminal proceedings are instituted pursuant to the Criminal Code (34) Laws of Osun State.”

Legal experts have noted that had the case continued at the Abuja court, the defendants would have exploited a loophole to ask the court to dismiss the case over lack of jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

Already the paramount ruler of Ife Kingdom and head of the Osun State Council of Chiefs, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi (Ojaja II) in late November, last year, suspended Dr. Ramon Adedoyin who holds the traditional title of Maye of Ile-Ife, from his council.

His suspension follows his arrest by the Osun State Police Command on allegation of involvement in the murder of a post-graduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Timothy Adegoke, at his Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Ile-Ife.

Adedoyin is also founder of the Oduduwa University.

This is the second time Adedoyin will be suspended as Maye of Ile-Ife.

In 2018, he was suspended over a trending Poem, ‘Ewi’ on the Ooni, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi released to defame the stool and character of the frontline monarch.

Osun police had, in November arrested Adedoyin who is the Founder of Oduduwa University and the Polytechnic, in Ile-Ife, over the death of a Master of Business Administration student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Timothy Oludare Adegoke inside a hotel owned by the educationist.

Dr Adedoyin is also the Chairman of Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ile-Ife, where the deceased is believed to have died; this, in addition to the land beside the hotel on which the late Adegoke was hurriedly buried in a shallow grave.

The late Timothy Oludare Adegoke, reportedly visited Ile-Ife from Abuja to sit for his examination at the OAU distance learning centre, in Moro, Osun State on November 5.

Adegoke who was declared missing on November 7 was found dead two days later.

The police acting on orders from the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Baba Alkali, arrested six suspects linked to the death of the student.

In a statement issued by the Commissioner of Police, CP Olawale Olokode, through the command’s spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola, on Wednesday, it was disclosed that Adedoyin was arrested on November 15, 2021.

The police boss said the suspect was in police detention undergoing interrogation in connection with the case while awaiting the autopsy report from the hospital.

While thanking members of the public, especially the bereaved family, students, and management of OAU for their patience to allow the police to continue on a thorough investigation on the matter, Olokode reiterated the commitment of the state police command to ensure justice is done.

He noted that no matter the personality of the person involved in the case or how highly or lowly placed in the society if found culpable that individual would be brought to justice.

He assured that updates on the case would be made public as the event unfolds.

The death of Oludare has pitched the state police against family of the deceased who had alleged attempt to cover-up the crime by the former.

This is also as the involvement of the IGP Alkali was perfected by the family of the deceased student who had feared that the powers that be in the state may compel the police command to cover up the case against Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, who is also a chief in Ife.

While relatives of the deceased claim he was found buried on the premises of Hilton Hotels and Resorts, the property owner and staff of the hotel initially denied knowing the late Oludare, only to allegedly confess on interrogation.

A cousin of the deceased, Mr Gabriel Ogunlana said Dr Adedoyin had initially threatened to arrest Timothy’s brother, Gbade that after alleging that he constituted a nuisance to his hotel when the family was looking for him (Timothy) in the hotel.

Ogunlana said it was the family who contacted the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, which led the police chief to call Osun State Commissioner of Police, Olawole Olokode, before the death of his cousin was uncovered.

“It was the confessional statement of the lady staff member in the hotel, Adesola Tobiloba that led to the arrest of five others. The lady confessed that Manager 4 — the Alfa (Islamic cleric) — was always around any time they wanted to perform that act of killing. That he was in charge of the (murder) act.

“When the Alfa came, he wanted to exonerate himself. He said he left Ife on the 5th (of November). Police asked him where he went and he said he left for Ejigbo. And the police were able to track Timothy’s line to Ejigbo. It was Alfa’s confessional statement that led to where Timothy was buried.

“We noticed some kind of conspiracy on the part of the police. Alfa confessed that Timothy was not the first person they murdered this year. He was the fifth person. They were saying they knocked on the door and when it was not opened, they used the spare key to open it and found him dead. They now said they buried him. The police asked if they reported it, they said no.

“It was when we noticed the manner by which the police were carrying out the job that we began to talk to the media. They were trying to cover up,” Ogunlana said.

Speaking on the part played by the chairman of the hotel, Ogunlana alleged, “On Wednesday, when the brother of the deceased, Gbade brought the receipts of previous lodgings, the police went there with him and met the owner there. The owner said the fact that he (Timothy) came there the previous week did not mean he came there the following week. He said they didn’t see him that week. The brother called me and said ‘I’m in front of the owner of the hotel, they said he is a king, they said he is a prince. He is threatening to arrest me that I’m asking about the whereabouts of my brother.’

“That owner (Adedoyin) was threatening to arrest Timothy’s brother. He said he was constituting a nuisance to the hotel. Throughout that week, the owner was there. He was coming to that hotel.

“The elders in our family called the Inspector-General of Police in Abuja before all these things started to come out. How they discovered his corpse, the police seemed to have known. They asked us if we could identify the corpse of the person we were looking for, we said yes. They brought out a shovel, so they dug the ground and brought out a carton according to them.

“They discovered in the carton that the deceased was wrapped with the duvet from the hotel. When they unwrapped it, they discovered it was the person that was missing. They didn’t unwrap him completely; they asked that he should be taken to the mortuary.

“The police were now reporting that the carton was not really big, he was squeezed. It was there they discovered that parts of the body had been mutilated and they did not allow any member of the family to see beyond the part they revealed. They just put it in the morgue there. Then, they came back, and ordered the arrest of the owner of the hotel.

“The intriguing part of the story is that he was not kidnapped from the airport as earlier insinuated; he was killed in the hotel where he lodged. The Hilton and Resorts Hotel where he lodged belongs to Mr Rahman Adedoyin (Maye of Ife), the owner of Oduduwa University in Ile-Ife.

“Initially, when we approached the hotel to ask about him, they denied that he was their guest for the weekend. The owner of the hotel (Adedoyin) vehemently dismissed Timothy. “However, upon police investigation, the Police established that Timothy paid for the hotel and lodged there for the night. Also, they located his mutilated corpse wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket/bed sheet belonging to the hotel and buried in a shallow grave near the hotel.”