As controversies continue to surround the death of a Masters student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Timothy Adegoke, legal counsel to the owner of Hilton Hotel and Resort, Williams Abiodun, has claimed that staff of his client’s hotel hid the corpse of Timothy Adegoke,for fear of being arrested.
Speaking with The Nation, Abiodun said the student “died naturally in his sleep” on the night he lodged at the hotel.
The lawyer also said his client had originally denied that the late student lodged in his hotel because there was no record in the company’s account showing he paid to use the facility.
According to him, the deceased paid into the personal account of Adesola Tobilola, a receptionist at the hotel, who confessed to the police that she shared the money with another staff.
Abiodun said when the staff discovered that Adegoke had died, they were scared that they would be arrested and therefore whisked his corpse away from the hotel and dumped him in a neighbouring area.
“When the police arrested Adesola, they notified me that they needed to question other staff and I took five of them to the police but they were detained,” he said.
“When they interrogated Adesola, she disclosed that the man (Adegoke) transferred the money into her personal account and (the money) was stolen without recoding it in the hotel’s account.
“She shared the money with another staff. That was why the hotel initially denied that Adegoke lodged in the hotel.
“Last week Saturday, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) told me that all the arrested staff had confessed that Adegoke actually slept in the hotel but died in his sleep naturally.
“The staff had shared the money that was paid by the guest and did not input it in the record.
“They knew there was a problem, they took the body in the dead of the night and dumped it somewhere and returned to the hotel as if nothing happened.
“Chief (Adedoyin) questioned them repeatedly but they all denied it until police forced them to talk.
“They did not bury the body, they took the police to where the body was dumped. Where they dumped the body was on farmland on the Ife/Osogbo road. The farmers hinted at the police.
“Only two staff were involved in dumping the corpse of Adegoke: the receptionist and one Kosim who is the plumber of the hotel. Kosim is this Tabligh Muslim, not a spiritualist.”
The lawyer said the body of the late student was intact when it was recovered.
“Adegoke’s body was intact when it was recovered. He died a natural death because he was resting his head on his palm. He spread his legs tiredly,” he added.
“There was no single mark of violence on his body. The only offence these people committed was wrongful interference and dumping of the dead body.”
The lawyer also dismissed claims that his client attempted to bribe the family of the deceased.
“Adedoyin never sent me to any of the family members of the deceased to bribe them,” he said.
“I have never seen any member of the victim’s family. Chief was not around when the incident happened. I don’t know when his corpse was discovered in the hotel room, but it seems he died on Friday night or Saturday.
“The IPO told me that the guy was feeling sick on the 5th of November, that was the reason why the wife was worried and called her husband on 6th repeatedly without anybody picking. The remains were probably discovered on Sunday by one of the workers.”
The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has appealed to Oyo State Government to beam its searchlight on alleged assault on a female student of of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomosho.
According to MURIC, a female Muslim student of the Online Distance Learning at LAUTECH had her niqab (a kind of hijab veil) brutally pulled off from behind by an official of the institution on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.
A statement by by the group’s director, Ishaq Akintola, said the incident occurred in public during the semester’s face-to-face interaction.
MURIC therefore called on the Oyo State Government to set up a panel to investigate the matter.
The statement reads:
“A female Muslim student of the Online Distance Learning (ODL) of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Oyo State, had her niqab (veil) brutally pulled off from behind by an official of the institution on Wednesday, 17th November, 2021. The incident occurred in public during the semester face-to-face interaction.
“We strongly condemn this act. It is most egregious, reprehensible and despicable. Pulling off a woman’s dress in public is not only bohemian and barbaric, it is also uncultured and preposterous. It is a shameless assault on civilisation, and a disgraceful act of stigmatization. It is equally disturbing that this hate action is coming from a citadel of learning. LAUTECH should know better as an ivory tower. We are disappointed.
“Most disturbing is the fact that the detestable, unsavory and unethical assault on the innocent girl-child was perpetrated in the presence and with the approval of the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing, Professor Ajibade Bayo Lawal who himself is described as a Muslim. But we have long discovered that Muslim haters often use infantile, jejune and half-baked Muslims to do their dirty works for them. Some who have converted to Christianity continue to bear Muslim names in a bid to deceive Muslims and in order to kowtow to the poohpooh of their principals.
“MURIC has long been monitoring the anti-Muslim acts of Professor Ajibade. In May 2021, Ajibade seized the jilbab of another female student by name Misrafat Gbolahan. A female friend who tried to intercede for Misrafat received a dirty slap. Again on 2nd November, 2021, the same Ajibade seized the jilbab of Marufat Basheer. Ajibade has been hounding male Muslim students who wear beards. The public removal of the niqab of another female Muslim student yesterday was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
“Ajibade’s cup of hate is now filled beyond the brim. He must pay for his anti-Muslim hostilities. LAUTECH is not a primary school, neither is it a glorified secondary school. Why then is this man treating the Muslim students like kids? This is a tertiary institution for crying out loud. Sadists who want to go back to the primary school where they can ferociously wield the ‘teacher’s cane’ while terrified school children tremble and crouch in corners are free to apply for deployment.
“MURIC is nonplussed by the emerging scenario in Oyo State. Muslim students, nay, Muslims in the state, have become endangered species. LAUTECH was encouraged by the lukewarm attitude of the state government to the plight of Muslims in the state. This is a precarious precedent and the impact on Muslims in the state is very simple. They may be militarized. They may be forced to defend themselves.
“Those who make laws impossible to obey make it impossible for people not to disobey. LAUTECH nursing dress code cannot be at cross-purposes with the laws of the nation. Any rule or regulation which fails to take cognizance of the multiculturality of this country is bound to bring conflict.
“MURIC charges the Oyo State Government to institute an investigation into cases of assault, stigmatization, oppression and persecution of LAUTECH Muslim students, particularly the ugly incident of Wednesday, 17th November, 2021.
“The rules of LAUTECH must not be allowed to ostracise Muslim students unless Oyo State Government can convince us that LAUTECH is funded with taxes paid by Christians alone. If we are all tax payers, we must all enjoy the dividends of democracy. Anything to the contrary is an open invitation to chaos. The hostile treatment meted out to Muslim students in LAUTECH is capable of causing a breach of the peace.
“Already, the Muslims Students in the school have issued an ultimatum for the school and Professor Ajibade to apologise or the school’s programmes will be in jeopardy. We implore Oyo State Government to act before things get out of hand. A panel of enquiry is a desideratum.
Meanwhile we appeal to the Muslim students of LAUTECH and the Muslims of Oyo State in general to remain calm and law abiding”
Following the report in some quarters that the body of the late MBA student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Timothy Adegoke was deposited at the institution’s Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife, the management of the hospital has debunked the report.
Adegoke was in Ile-Ife from October 22 to October 24; October 29 to October 31, and had also planned to stay from November 5 to November 7, 2021.
Reacting in a statement on Saturday, OAUTH said the body of the deceased was never deposited in the facility for any coroner case as being reported on some social media platforms.
The statement read, “The attention of the Management of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, has been drawn to some publications on several social media platforms, claiming that the body of Timothy Adegoke was brought to the morgue of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex for autopsy.
“Please we want to state, as a matter of fact that, the body of the deceased was never deposited in our hospital for any coroner case. “Our hearts and prayers go to the Adegoke family. May God give them the fortitude to bear the weight of this difficult time.”
Ex-corps member, Ezeiruaku Ifeyinwa Fidelis, who was assaulted by a female commissioned army officer, Lieutenant Chika Viola Anele, says she’s yet to collect her discharge certificate from the authorities of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
According to The Nation, Ifeyinwa said she has been battling with acute trauma since the incident, which she says has continued to impact negatively on her daily life.
The distraught University of Lagos, UNILAG, alumnus added that the trauma had impacted greatly on her that she found it difficult to sleep.
“At times I remember it in my sleep and I wake up. When this happens, I play with my phone for some time before I would doze off again. I had to see a therapist and have done the test she asked me to do and submitted it to her. She said she would get back to me,” she said.
Despite having met a therapist, Ifeyinwa said life had not been the same for her.
She said, “I have not been feeling so easy with myself as somebody that was brutalised in that manner. I am still trying to gather myself together. At times, I do feel it all happened because I allowed her to do that to me. On the other hand, I wonder why I didn’t fight back.”
After the incident, Ifeyinwa was asked by the authorities of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to leave Calabar where she was serving her fatherland for security reasons. She had barely a few weeks to end the programme when the incident occurred. Her batch of NYSC members completed their service year in October.
Asked if she had been given her discharge certificate by the NYSC, Ifeyinwa said she had not, adding, “There was a time they (NYSC) invited me to come for my certificate in Abuja but my parents were scared. They said I wouldn’t go for now. Everybody around me was scared of letting me go, so I am yet to collect it.
“It is not that they didn’t want to give me my certificate. They called me to come for it, but my parents said they were scared and could not allow me to go.”
Aside from reports of a tacit apology and condemnation of the incident by the military authorities, Ifeyinwa said the Nigerian Army was yet to reach out to her with a view to assuaging her trauma.
She said, “The military has not called me since then to say anything. I am not aware if they have done anything to the woman. I don’t know anything.
“I am not searching for work yet. I am still taking my time. By next year, I will go into that one (searching for a job) properly. My lawyer is handling my case pro bono (without charges).”
The alumni association of the Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu (OUI) has distanced the institution from the death of a Masters student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Mr Timothy Adegoke.
It will be recalled that the remains of Adegoke who was declared missing on November 7 was found near Hilton Hotel and details surrounding his death remain sketchy.
He had gone to town to sit for an exam at the OAU Distance Learning Centre, Moro campus, and had lodged in the hotel owned by Chief Ramon Adedoyin who doubles as the founder of Oduduwa University.
It will also be recalled that police in the state have arrested the manager and owner of the hotel in connection to the incident.
But President, Oduduwa University Alumni Association, Quadri Olatunji, in a press statement made available to Tribune Online on Saturday, noted that the university should not be linked to Adegoke’s death since the incident did not happen on Oduduwa University premises.
While commiserating with the family of the victim, the association called for a thorough investigation into Adegoke’s disappearance and death, noting that “Mr Adegoke, like every human being, had a right to live and did not deserve to die in his prime.”
The association, however, condemned news reports linking and disparaging Oduduwa University over the incident.
“Our higher citadel of learning which has produced highly placed youths in the society in just 12 years of her existence has no affiliation whatsoever in the unfolding story and as such it became a surprise as to why peddlers of substandard news would drag the name of the university into the mix.
“There is no justification in the actions of these half-baked media outfits who normally should know the intended and unintended consequences such mudslinging act would have on old, current, and new students of OUI, yet attempted tarnishing the image of the school for monetary gains. This act should stop at this stage, Hilton hotels is not Oduduwa University!
“It is entirely unfair to discredit the institution over something unconnected to it. Private institutions are not cheap in Nigeria; hence one can guess what a lot of parents and students (old and new) must have gone through to pay tuition and all.
“We, therefore, implore well-thinking Nigerians to be mindful of our stand on this case as an Alumni body. Oduduwa University is one of the most peaceful private schools in Nigeria with zero rates of unrest or obnoxious incidents. The school has never recorded any form of interruption to its academic calendar except of course during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“The students and alumni of Oduduwa University should not have to go through this avoidable emotional trauma. The public should please refrain from unmindfully linking the institution to any disreputable act,” the statement reads in part.
Dr. Rahmat Zakariya, a lecturer at the Department of Microbiology, University of Ilorin, made national and international headlines this week when her story went viral after a student, Waliyullah Salaudeen, attacked her following alleged disagreement over SIWES programme. In this exclusive interview with Daily Trust, she narrated her side of the story which has been missing from the dominant narrative out there about the incident. She also clarified what she termed misconceptions about the whole issue. Excerpts
There have been several reports out there about the incident, what is your own side of the story?
Thank you very much. Let me first point out the loopholes from the stories that had gone viral. When I was giving my statement to the police after what transpired, I was told he (Waliyullah) didn’t deny any of my account.
He was reported to have said you threw a mug at him when he entered your office, how true is that?
The story of me throwing a mug at him is baffling to me. What chance did I have? There was none. This was someone who barged into my office and was saying I sent someone to kill him. He was banging on my table and punching me. So, how is it possible for me to throw a mug at him?
What is your relationship with him?
I have seen a lot of publications that said that I’m his Level Adviser and supervisor. But none of this is true. I’m neither his Level Adviser nor Supervisor, I’m just a lecturer at the department and the SIWES Coordinator.
When did your contact with him over this issue start?
If at all we had contact prior to that day, November 11th, 2021, it was when he met me to tell me that he didn’t do his SIWES, that he only spent a month at the programme and I asked him why didn’t he complete it. He said he was ill. I told him to get his medical report to show that he was truly ill and take it to where he did his SIWES, he could be lucky and they may be compassionate enough if he was diligent when he was there to help him endorse the remaining part of the logbook and he left. He didn’t show up again. Then, I met him again on the university walkway and inquired why I didn’t see him again and if he has gotten his medical report. He said he had sent for it but he was yet to receive it. I was wondering why medical report will become such an issue if truly he was sick. Then about two days after, I met him with his Level Adviser and I said he has to re-register SIWES. But the level adviser only smiled when I was giving him the way around it.
How does the University SIWES operates?
Normally, if you register SIWES for second semester, the person will not be able to do other courses again because there won’t be any opportunity to add any other course. So, l said he should register for the programme but he will be doing his project and the SIWES at where we can monitor him at the Medical Research Lab very close to the department. I then told the level adviser to liaise with the director to make a placement for him. You see, he had carry overs in lower level courses because he is actually a weak student. So, by this arrangement, he will be able to do his carry over courses for first semester and next year when he comes back, he wouldn’t have a huge workload. He will just register for the project. That was the advice I gave to him and this happened like six months ago, maybe late April or early May when the university just resumed. The SIWES has the largest unit required to bag a Bsc – 6 credits, which is larger than project. So, we had to start a new modality of grading the student because it is not possible that we will just be awarding them free marks. We now said after they submit their log book, they are going to do the presentation of everything they experienced during the programme. The funny thing is that we just adopted it this session. This was how our contact started in the first place.
Didn’t he come for presentation?
There were lots of students that came for the presentation which is about forty marks or thereabouts. But with their presentation, you will simply know they didn’t do much during the SIWES programme. Now, he has seen that there is no way around it but there are more legit ways to go about it if he was remorseful and wanted to be a good boy. But he didn’t show up. It was after that day, remember I said earlier his Level Adviser only smiled while I was talking to him about the boy. He later made me realize that even if he had done his SIWES, he would still have spilled for two more years and he didn’t even come at all for his first semester exams he registered for.
Have you had any issues with him before that you suspect might have triggered his hostile attitude towards you?
No, I didn’t insult him whatsoever before and now. When he barged into my office, he did so with a smile in his face. The courteous thing was to knock and open but he just pushed the door with force, addressing me by my name that Zakariya why am I after his life and why did I send one Azeez to come and kill him. He was asking me in Yoruba how much I paid the people I sent to kill him. What do I have to do with someone of such character?
Are you familiar with the Azeez he was talking about?
Not at all. And that was why I felt initially that there was a mixed up and I started pleading with him to calm down. Then he started banging on my table, asking what can I do to him, swearing and using the F-word. Imagine him telling me that. All of a sudden, he moved closer to my chair and started punching me and by that time I was already screaming for help.
Where you alone in the office when he came?
There were two of my female students in the inner lab who came pleading with him to let go of me. One was a Niqobite and the other one was a very slim girl. But he threatened to kill them before he kills me if they moved closer. He later went outside, saying that those people who did what I did to him in the past lost their lives in the process and that I wouldn’t try it with him again in my life.
So that was when you ran out?
Yes, I had now gone outside opening several doors to my colleagues’ offices screaming for help but none of them was available. So, when he noticed I couldn’t get any help, he turned back and started chasing me until we got to the General Lab. When I got there, I quickly locked the door and he kept banging the door. There were two offices inside the general lab but they were both locked. When he noticed that I had locked the door, he went to window and broke the louvres with his bare hands, I was shocked. He them removed his shoe and used it to clear the broken pieces to enable him enter without getting injured. Although he was strapping a bag, I didn’t see him with any weapon or ammunition. But after that action, I was sensitive to the fact that he might want to use the broken pieces of the Louvres to stab me. So, I quickly went back to the door, open it and started running. He entered through the window and continued pursuing me. He was able to catch up with me and started punching me while I was on the ground, that was the video that many people saw. But that was his third attempt at trying to kill me. If you look at the video properly, you will see that it was until the person who came handed me over to someone else before he was able to chase him. He was initially walking away majestically. He wanted to leave me at that point because he felt I was unconscious and he has accomplished his aim. It was just God that saved me, Alhamdulillah.
Have you experienced such attack since you joined the university?
I have never. My dad and my husband are not violent people and that was why my dad said “a child that he has never touched to be so attacked by someone.”
How do you feel about the whole scenario as a lecturer?
Alhamdulillahi that I’m a Muslim and I’m grateful to God. I believe the good things I have been doing in the past paved the way for me this time around. I will try my best not to deviate but it’s not easy, wallahi, to still maintain the person you are.
What is your relationship like with the other students?
Many students who I am not their supervisor or Level Adviser want to come to me, just go and ask, because they know I will advise them and even support them financially in many instances, including my old students. Although I am still very young in the academics, I will be 8 years in January 2022, but I have students from far and near whom I have influenced and impacted positively. I learnt a lot of things from friends I met in the academic circle but maybe I was overdoing my own because I was too close and attached to my students and took them like my sisters and relatives. I became a level adviser immediately I got the job. I have had about two experiences which some people wanted to misinterpret. In 2018, at our faculty, I was identified and awarded as the best Level Adviser. Since my first year of becoming a level adviser, I have been soliciting for my students. There were some of them I assisted financially – both Muslims and Christians, and their parents will come asking me when to pay back but I declined. I don’t look at religion. So, you can imagine my relationship with them but see what it eventually turned out to.
What is your message?
We should all try our best to bring up our children in the fear of Allah. We should all play our part and leave the rest to God, that is it. I pray God will have mercy on us with the level of moral decadence. I hope parents are learning from this episode. Though I don’t know how that boy was raised, but we should all instil the fear of God in our children.
Kano-born business mogul, Aliko Dangote, has revealed how his brother, Sani Dangote, died in his presence in Miami hospital, United States of America.
Mr Dangote made the revelation when he received the leader of All Progress Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, on a condolence visit on Friday in Kano.
Recounting how the vice president of Dangote Group died, the business mogul said the doctors treating his brother had told them that he was dying in an hour time.
He said it was pathetic to have been watching how he was dying while on life support machine.
Mr Dangote narrated that he, alongside his mother and his late brother’s children were watching as the life support machine was indicating that he was dying, adding that “we were watching until the machine stopped working.”
“Having a brother like this, once you lose him it is really very painful. Because he died in the presence our mother, myself and all his children.
“The most painful thing is when you are told that your brother will be passing on in about an hour and you stand by watching as the machine is going down until it stopped working. It was very tormenting.
“We have always known that when there is life there is death. We as Muslims don’t know who is next and it can be today, tomorrow or even now.
“I thank you all for all your prayers and your support. This will actually help us to reduce the pain that we are going through. It is a very tough time for us, it’s been very trying for especially myself, we were actually almost like a bond together.
In his condolence message, Mr Tinubu said that money cannot buy life and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
He called on the family to take heart and continue to pray for the repose of the soul of the late Dangote.
“We are here not to just commiserate or console you, we are here together to mourn our dear brother. Sani is not yours alone, he is a Lagosian and a great Nigerian and a friend and a brother to all of us here.
“I am not a preacher, but I know what it means to suddenly lose a close relation especially a brother.
“What we have come to do is to join in prayers for you and the people of Kano state, for Nigeria and the entire family as a whole. May God give you the strength to bear the loss. Is a loss to all of us. And also grant you what you didn’t donate to, longer life, keep you in good health, keep the family in good health, give you peace of mind and the ability to accept the decree of God Almighty.
“He is the giver and he is the taker, and He can do anything at any given time he chooses. With your faith and your strong capacity, we believe you will come out of it and continue to do good in his name, in your name, in the family’s name and the entire people of the country,” Mr Tinubu stated.
Comic Nollywood actor, James Omiyinka Olanrewaju better known as ‘Baba Ijesha’ has revealed how he was maltreated to write confessional statement attributed to him in the sexual allegation charge pressed against him.
Baba Ijesha said he was forced to sign the statement when thugs beat and tortured him to admit to the said allegation.
The defendant made the revelation during the trial-within-trial held on Friday before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Court in Ikeja.
He said he was beaten with a stick, forced to sit on the floor in order to sign the statement.
He also claimed that everything in the statement was dictated to the police by the comedienne, Ms. Damilola Adekola a.k.a Princess who is the complainant.
While being led in evidence by one of his counsel, Dada Awosika, SAN, he said: “My cloth was torn, I was forced to sit on the ground. My body was shaking. They showed me the statement, I did not volunteer the statement. I was just asked to sign it. Princess dictated everything to them.
He said further that when Insp. Oname Abigail arrived at Princess’ house on April 19, the day he was arrested, the complainant hid some boys who were beating him inside a room before allowing her to come inside.
He said that when he was led outside, some boys again came and beat him until he was rescued by some police officers who took him on a bike to Sabo Divisional Police Headquarters and locked him up in a cell.
During cross-examination by the prosecuting counsel, Yusuf Sule, Baba Ijesha insisted he did not volunteer the statement but that the content was dictated to the police by the complainant.
He also denied knowledge of the current residence of the complainant, insisting that only her former residence was known to him.
He, however, confirmed he volunteered details such as names of his father, mother, primary and secondary schools attended, his age, reasons for dropping out of the University of Lagos, Akoka.
But Baba Ijesha failed to respond when confronted by the prosecution that the IPO could not have known these details if he did not volunteer any information to her.
The police representative insisted that Baba Ijesha voluntarily made the statement under caution and approved of it when it was read to him.
Insp. Abigail insisted she read cautionary words to Baba Ijesha and that he told her he understood English and everything she read to him.
As emotions keep rising over the death of Timothy Oluwadare Adegoke at Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ile-Ife, penultimate weekend,The Nation has seen a picture of the deceased covered with what looks like bruises and blood stains.
The picture, which is too gory to be published, was taken where the body was allegedly dumped.
The blood stains are mainly on his right elbow, upper part of his left thigh and vest.
His two legs were spread apart. There was a deep grey sack around his head.
He wore a round neck white singlet and a navy blue pair of boxers.
However, the police insist that the body is intact while some of the suspects have reportedly told the police that the victim died in his sleep naturally.
The hotel has since been shut down but sources close to the management claimed yesterday that “the initial denial of the hotel management as to whether Adegoke lodged with them was because there was no record of any payment by him in the Hotel’s account, but it was later that it was detected that he made payment into the personal account of the receptionist which normally is wrong.”
Thirty-seven year-old Adegoke was a Master’s degree student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
He had travelled from his base in Abuja to Ile-Ife on Friday ,November 5 to write his last examination, without the least suspicion that death was lurking in the corner.
The late Director of Finance at Xiamien Stone Limited, Abuja, according to investigation, flew from Abuja to Akure in Ondo State. His plane landed in the Ondo State capital at 3pm.
He then proceeded to Ile-Ife by road, hitting town at about 4.45pm.
He chose to lodge at Hilton Hotel and Resort located on the Ife-Ibadan expressway opposite Ife Central Local Government Area secretariat ,booking for a deluxe suite at N18500 per night for two nights.
For payment, he was said to have transferred N37000 to the personal account of the hotel’s receptionist, identified as Adesola.
Adegoke ,a family source said, notified his wife that he checked into his hotel room but did not disclose the name. He also made another bank transfer to her.
“He told his wife that he wanted to take a nap before reading for his exam,” the source said,adding: “the wife decided not to disturb him because she believed he was either sleeping or reading, so she suspended calling him till Saturday morning.”
Continuing, the source said:” The wife called the following morning to check on Adegoke but his phone rang out of time.
“She thought her husband already had left for the examination hall so she suspended the calls till afternoon when she tried the number again. However, she began to feel that it was unusual of him not to call her before going for examination.
“She was very worried and she called me and one other cousin of her husband living in Ondo State on Saturday afternoon to inform us that she was unable to speak with her husband.
“This prompted me to contact a close friend’s wife who was in Ile-Ife to help me go to the examination hall on Sunday. She was in the examination centre at OAU Center for Distance Learning, Moro, with the first cousin of Adegoke to check if he was at the exam hall around 10 am.”
“The coordinator of the exam hall checked the attendance sheet and they discovered that he was not present at the exam hall on Saturday and Sunday. He advised that we should check all the hotels in Moro which we did.We could not find him.
“The Dean of Adegoke’s faculty informed the chairman of the hoteliers association in Ife if any of their members knew the whereabouts of our brother but the chairman of the association gave us a feedback none of their members had the record of Adegoke.
“This prompted us to report the matter at Edunabon police station on Sunday, 7th November 2021 of the mysterious disappearance of our brother. We went together with the authority of OAU to report the matter and the police told us that they would transfer the case to Police Headquarters, Osogbo on Monday.
“The wife called the personal assistant of her husband if he had any information on how they could locate his husband but the PA said he called the number of his boss and a strange person picked it on Sunday night informing him that he found the phone in Ejigbo.
“I called the number immediately, the person picked and told me ‘hello’ only to terminate the call abruptly and switched off.
“We went to the Police Command on Monday to write a statement. They asked us for the name of the hotel that he had lodged previously but we told the police that we did not know. We also inquired from his wife, and she said she didn’t know.
“Adegoke’s phone was tracked by the police and it was revealed that it was in Ejigbo, Osun State. They also asked if we had his email address and his password for tracking. We provided the email address but we didn’t know the password.
“On Tuesday, 9th November 2021, the wife searched the house and found the receipt of Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife of a previous lodging in one of the pockets of her husband. She snapped and sent it to the police. This made the police and the elder brother of Adegoke visit the hotel but the staff denied that he lodged in the hotel that weekend.
“The elder brother was emotional at a point, he called me on phone saying, ‘I am standing in front of the hotel owner now and they are denying that my brother lodged here’. They left the place and did not make any arrest since we didn’t have concrete evidence that he slept in that hotel.”
The family source said a clue appeared on Thursday, November 11 after the police demanded that “we should get Adegoke’s bank statement.”
“We made it availabele to them. The statement of the bank indicated that he made a transaction at 5 PM on the Friday he arrived the hotel. He sent money to two persons: his wife and one Adedeji Adesola Tobilola. He sent N37,000 to that Adesola. They tracked the phone number of that account holder (Adesola) to Hilton Hotel.
“We went to the hotel and the hotel paraded all the staff before the police. They asked who bears Adedeji Adesola Tobiloba and a female receptionist signified by raising her finger.
“She said Adegoke came to the hotel on Friday to lodge but he only transferred N37,000 to her account and left hurriedly without returning to the hotel. She said she never reported the matter to the hotel management but rather she shared the money with the manager of the company.He (manager) denied the allegation..
“When she got to the station, she confessed that he (Adegoke) lodged in room 305. Police did not tell us anything before they arrested five people including an alfa who claimed he travelled to Ejigbo.
“On Monday, 15th, 2021, one of the hotel staff led the police and four family members to where Adegoke was buried in Ile-Ife. When the police exhumed the body, we discovered that they packed his corpse inside a carton wrapped with a duvet with the name of the hotel. The neck of Adegoke was slit.
“The police proceeded to arrest the chairman of the hotel, Dr. Rahmon Adedoyin without disclosing the reason for doing so to us.”
Adedoyin and other suspects are still being interrogated by the police.
Our own story,Adedoyin’s lawyer
Contacted yesterday,Adedoyin’s lawyer of 15 years ,Barrister Williams Abiodun,said there is nothing in the account record of the hotel showing that Adegoke paid to lodge there.
He said the police first arrested one Adesola,the hotel’s receptionist ,and following her statement, the police “notified me that they needed to question other staff and I took five of them to the police but they were detained.
“When they interrogated Adesola, she disclosed that the man (Adegoke) transferred the money into her personal account and (the money) was stolen without recoding it in the hotel’s account. “She shared the money with another staff. That was why the hotel initially denied that Adegoke lodged in the hotel.
“Last week Saturday, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) told me that all the arrested staff had confessed that Adegoke actually slept in the hotel but died in his sleep naturally.
“The staff had shared the money that was paid by the guest and did not input it in the record. “They knew there was a problem, they took the body in the dead of the night and dumped it somewhere and returned to the hotel as if nothing happened.
“Chief (Adedoyin) questioned them repeatedly but they all denied it until police forced them to talk.
“They did not bury the body, they took the police to where the body was dumped. Where they dumped the body was on farmland on the Ife/Osogbo road. The farmers hinted the police.
“Only two staff were involved in dumping the corpse of Adegoke: the receptionist and one Kosim who is the plumber of the hotel. Kosim is this Tabligh Muslim, not a spiritualist.”
He said the body of the victim was recovered in the presence of the Osun Police Commissioner, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) and some other people.
He added: “Adegoke’s body was intact when it was recovered. He died a natural death because he was resting his head on his palm. He spread his legs tiredly. There was no single mark of violence on his body. The only offence these people committed was wrongful interference and dumping of the dead body.”
He denied suggestions in some quarters that Adedoyin attempted to bribe the family of the deceased.
“Adedoyin never sent me to any of the family members of the deceased to bribe them,” Abiodun said.
“I have never seen any member of the victim’s family. Chief was not around when the incident happened. I don’t know when his corpse was discovered in the hotel room, but it seems he died on Friday night or Saturday.
“The IPO told me that the guy was feeling sick on the 5th of November, that was the reason why the wife worried and called her husband on 6th repeatedly without anybody picking. The remains were probably discovered on Sunday by one of the workers.”
He added that those who were arrested mentioned of the name Chief Adedoyin as the owner of the hotel and he was invited and has been detained since Monday.
“I went with Chief Adedoyin on Monday to the Police Command, Osogbo where he gave his statement. He voluntarily submitted himself. He was never in any way indicted by the six arrested suspects.”
He said the hotel manager , Aderogba Adeniyi was arrested alongside other suspects.
He also denied that the son of the hotel owner was arrested .
He asked the police to “ do a discrete job and anybody found wanting should be probably prosecuted, no matter how highly placed the person is.”
He said: “ We intentionally don’t want to free the suspects legally from police detention because we want the police to conduct their investigation very well without interference and let the whole world know that Adegoke died a natural death. The staff only interfered with the corpse.”
The hotel is currently under lock and key while investigation into the circumstances surrounding Adegoke’s death continues.
Another source close to Adedoyin believe there is a deliberate attempt to rubbish him.
The source denied suggestions that Adegoke was killed for rituals and said “the initial denial of the hotel management as to whether Adegoke lodged with them was because there was no record of any payment by him in the Hotel’s account, but it was later that it was detected that he made payment into the personal account of the receptionist which normally is wrong.”
The source added: “the late Adegoke left the hotel like many other customers after finding out that neither light nor water was available, and the CCTV cameras were out of order as a result of renovation work being carried out at the hotel.
“The hotel has operated for less than two years and had never recorded any death as the public was led to believe by the deceased brother
“The lady receptionist who was recently employed by the hotel is on a salary of twenty-five thousand naira (N25,000) and not two hundred thousand naira (N200,000) as being spread in some media.
“The person called Alfa which could be misinterpreted as an Islamic cleric and possibly a spiritualist or ritualist is actually a plumber and maintenance manager in the hotel and is neither a cleric nor a ritualist.
“ Dr. Adedoyin is not personally involved in the day-to-day running of the hotel as he has other more important businesses which include five tertiary institutions within and outside Nigeria, security outfit, publishing and hospitality business.”
Adedoyin: My hands are clean
The hotel owner,Dr.Rahman Adedoyin,in an audio message from detention yesterday said his hands are clean in the death of Adegoke.
Speaking in Yoruba,65 year old Adedoyin said he has been wealthy since he was 26 years after starting as a home lesson teacher.
He said he never left Ife before God “blessed me”.
He said he has never been involved in money rituals and pleaded with the public to conduct their investigation into the matter.
He said he did not know about the death of Adegoke in his hotel until the police started searching for him.
Police source: Why Adegoke paid into hotel staff’s account
A highly placed police source told The Nation that the hotel receptionist had told Adegoke that the facility had run out of diesel to power its generator.
“She asked Adegoke to pay into her personal account so that she could use part of the money to procure fuel which he (Adegoke) agreed to,” the source said.
His killers must be made to feel our pains – Adegokes
The deceased turned 37 only last August,according to his elder brother, Olugbade Adegoke.
“He was the breadwinner of the whole family. He was more educated than all of us in the family,” he said in an emotion –laden vice.
“He was the third born of our parents.
“He had been doing the Master’s programme when he was in Ondo before he was transferred to Abuja. He left Ondo around May 2021 for Abuja and moved his family with him in September 2021.
“When we visited the hotel, we discovered that there were bloodstains in the room where he slept and they had already changed the mattress and curtains of the room because it was different from all others of its category. I took the pictures.
“We demand that the police should press murder charges those involved in the death of my younger brother.
“The deceased had three children. The firstborn are seven-year-old twins and another two-year-old baby. I want the perpetrators to feel our pains.
“My brother had the prospect of becoming the managing director of the company he was working for. He had two mobile policemen securing him and an official car in Abuja but because he was coming down to Ile-Ife for an exam he felt it was needless to travel with them. He was killed during his last exam in the school.”
Family to Police: All culprits must be brought to book
Counsel to the bereaved family,Kayode Ajulo,in a statement yesterday commended the police for a job well done so far,but said all the culprits in the matter must be brought to book in the overriding interest of justice.
“It is worrisome and sad that Mr. Timothy Oludare can be cut down in his prime for motives best known to his killers which of course, must be extracted and investigated by the Police without delay. It portends serious danger that a place meant to serve the temporary accommodation needs of Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike could in actual fact be a place where cold-blooded murders are orchestrated and carried out in the most desperate and daring manner. Again, we note the temerity and the audacity in which the murder of the late Timothy Oludare was carried out as contained in the preliminary findings made by the Osun State Police Command. According to the findings, our Client’s son was strangled to death in his hotel room, his body was subsequently mutilated and wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket/bedsheet belonging to the hotel and finally buried in a shallow grave near the hotel.
“The law is clear that an offender(s) who causes the death of a person is guilty of murder under 316 of the Criminal Code Laws Cap 34, Laws of Osun State and same is punishable by death under Section 319 of the same law and it is our legally considered view that the confessional statements as obtained from some of the suspects are cogent enough to establish the varying degrees of guilt of all the suspects.
“As things stand, the hotel and its vicinity are a crime scene and should be treated as such, nothing must be on the way of a thorough and wider investigation of this highly reprehensible murder because nobody irrespective of their status or influence is bigger than the extant laws of the land.
“We therefore urge utmost professionalism by the Police in this matter; no stone must be left unturned to get to the root of this matter. On our part, we are ready to partner with the Police to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done. While we trust that this matter will reach its expected legal conclusion, we want to reiterate that we will not hesitate for a second to do everything within legally permissible limits to fight anyone who attempts to frustrate the expected end of justice.
“As it is historically believed that Ile-Ife is the cradle of the human race, it is important that the ancient city and by extension, other parts of the nation must not be allowed to become safe havens for murderers and other criminals alike. It shreds our collective humanity into pieces when the blood of any innocent Nigerian can be spilled without consequences.”
His exhumed body is intact— Police
However, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Osun State Police Command, SP Yemisi Opalola said body of the victim which was exhumed by the police in the presence of the family members remains intact.
“No part of the body was missing when it was exhumed,” Opalola said.
He added: “investigation by the police indicates that Adegoke slept inside Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ile-Ife, and he was traced to the hotel.
“In the course of the investigation, we arrested six workers connected to the issue. Further investigation led to the arrest of the owner of the Hotel. Dr Rahman Adedoyin. He is still in our custody. The corpse has been exhumed and deposited at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital morgue.
“The relations were present when the corpse was exhumed. A pathologist and the Commissioner of Police were also present . No part of the body was missing when it was exhumed. I plead with Nigerians not to stir up controversy. Allow the police to conduct a diligent investigation to unravel the mystery behind the death of Adegoke.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has hinted that he would consider the demand for the unconditional release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
PRESIDENT BUHARI’S AUDIENCE WITH HIGHLY RESPECTED IGBO GREATS 0B. L-R; President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen Chris Ngige, Chief Hon Mbazulike Amaechi, Bishop Sunday Onuoha Barrister Goody Uwazurike during an audience at the State House Abuja. PHOTO; SUNDAY AGHAEZE. NOV 19TH 2021
Buhari spoke when he hosted a group of Southeast leaders under the umbrella of Highly Respected Igbo Greats led by First Republic parliamentarian and Minister of Aviation Chief Mbazulike Amaechi at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, however, pointed it out that the demand is a rather difficult one particularly because the matter is already before the courts.
He explained to his visitors that since Kanu is already standing trial, his intervention would be running contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers between the Executive and Judiciary.
“You’ve made an extremely difficult demand on me as leader of this country. The implication of your request is very serious.
” In the last six years, since I became President, nobody would say I have confronted or interfered in the work of the Judiciary.
“God has spared you, and given you a clear head at this age, with very sharp memory. A lot of people half your age are confused already. But the demand you made is heavy. I will consider it.
“I said the best thing was to subject him to the system. Let him make his case in court, instead of giving very negative impressions of the country from outside. I feel it’s even a favour to give him that opportunity.”
The President condoled with Chief Amaechi, who recently buried his wife, praying that her soul would rest in peace.
The nonagenarian had described the situation in the Southeast as “painful and pathetic,” lamenting that businesses have collapsed, education is crumbling, and there is fear everywhere.
He pleaded for a political, rather than military solution, requesting that if Kanu was released to him as the only First Republic Minister still alive, “he would no longer say the things he had been saying.”
He vowed that he could control Kanu “not because I have anything to do with them (IPOB), but I am highly respected in Igbo land today.”
Chief Amaechi said twice he had interfaced with Nnamdi Kanu in the past, and the latter rescinded orders earlier given on civil disobedience.
He concluded: “I don’t want to leave this planet without peace returning to my country. I believe in one big, united Nigeria, a force in Africa. Mr President, I want you to be remembered as a person who saw Nigeria burning, and you quenched the fire.”
Other people in the visiting delegation were former Anambra Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife; Bishop Sunday Onuoha of the Methodist Church; Chief Barrister Goddy Uwazurike; former President of Igbo socio-cultural group, Aka Ikenga, and Mr Tagbo Mbazulike Amaechi.
