Published 30th May, 2023

By Tola Owoyele

Earlier on Tuesday, a high court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, sentenced Rahmon Adedoyin, the owner of Hilton Hotel and Resorts, to death by hanging.

Apart from Adedoyin, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem, two other staff working at the hotel, were also sentenced to death for the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a master’s student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

After the sentencing, Fatima Adeshina, a lawyer representing the prosecution on behalf of Femi Falana, the lead prosecuting counsel, told FIJ that justice had been well served.

“The late Timothy Adegoke did not die in vain,” Adeshina said.

The lawyer then gave a summary of the judgement.

“The summary of the judgement is that the first, third and fifth defendants have been convicted for some of the offences preferred against them,” he said.

“In the case of the first, third and fifth defendants, they have been charged for conspiracy to commit murder and murder as well.

“For the seventh defendant, she was only convicted for altering records and her sentencing has been further adjourned till tomorrow.

“The first, third and fifth defendants are Rahmon Adedoyin, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem respectively.

“Aderogba and Kazeem, who are both managers of the hotel, confessed to evacuating Timothy Adegoke’s body from the hotel and dumping same in a shallow grave. They further confessed to carrying out the act alongside Roheem Adedoyin, the son of the owner of the hotel, who is still at large.

“For conspiracy to commit murder, the first, third and fifth defendants were sentenced to 10 years each in jail; for some other offences, they were sentenced to life imprisonment, and for murder, which is the ultimate conviction, they were sentenced to death by hanging.

“Three other defendants in the case, Magdalene Chiefuna, Lawrence Oluwole and Adedeji Adesola, were discharged and acquitted for the various offences preferred against them by the prosecution.

“The court in its wisdom held that the offences for which they were charged did no go in tandem with the evidence elicited by the prosecution.

“The court held that the evidence we presented as prosecution were not sufficient enough to grant conviction against them.

“They have since been discharged and acquitted for all the counts preferred against them.”

Adegoke, an Abuja-based chartered accountant, had travelled to Ile-Ife on November 5, 2021, to write his MBA exams at the OAU Distance Learning Centre.

He was declared missing on November 7, 2021. Later, his body was found in a shallow grave at a location very close to Hilton Hotel and Resorts, where he had been accommodated.

He left behind aged parents, a wife and three children.

Share on Social Media