Timothy Adegoke: Appeal court reserves judgement on death sentence

The Court of Appeal in Akure has reserved judgement on the appeal filed by the founder of Oduduwa University, Ile-Ife, (OUI), Ramon Adedoyin, following his death sentence passed on him by the Osun State High Court in Osogbo.

Mr Adedoyin was found guilty of the murder of a student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Timothy Adegoke.

Mr Adegoke died at The Hilton Hotels, Ile Ife, owned by Mr Adedoyin, under curious circumstances between 5 and 7 November 2021.

According to the judgement of the lower court, the circumstantial evidence available to the court pointed to the killing of Mr Adegoke while being a guest at the hotel owned by Mr Adedoyin and the latter’s decision not to enter the witness box did not help him, as the circumstantial evidence had shifted the burden of proof on him.

The High Court also held that Mr Adedoyin’s decision not to enter the witness box meant he agreed to the murder charge pressed against him by the prosecution, dismissing the alibi pleaded on his behalf by his counsel, who said the hotel owner was in Abuja for many days around the time the death of late Mr Adegoke occurred.

Trial judge Adepele Ojo had sentenced Mr Adedoyin and two members of his staff, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem, to death by hanging over their involvement in the evacuation of the deceased from the hotel.

Not satisfied with the verdict of the lower court, Mr Adedoyin and the other convicts approached the appeal court, praying it to set aside the judgment of the lower court.

Appeal Court hearing

At the hearing of the appeal on Tuesday, counsel to the respondents, Femi Falana, SAN, informed the court of his brief of argument dated 17 January, praying the court to adopt his brief of argument and dismiss the appeal of the appellants.

He also prayed the court to affirm the judgement of the lower court based on the evidence presented by the prosecution.

Mr Falana noted that the defence of the appellant was irrelevant to the case before the court, arguing that circumstantial evidence proved that the appellant conspired with two others to commit the crime for which they were sentenced.

“There is no doubt in the appellant’s involvement in the death of Adegoke. After the incident, Adedoyin assembled some of his staff to take the oath of secrecy. He took the said vehicle used to convey the deceased to his house in Abuja, and he instructed his staff to cover up the entire circumstances surrounding the gruesome murder of the deceased,” Mr Falana argued.

Mr Falana further prayed the judges to consider the evidence before them as well as the briefs of arguments to do justice to the case.

He urged the court to dismiss the appellant’s applications in the interest of justice.

Adedoyin’s counsel argues

However, Mr Adedoyin’s counsel, Kehinde Eleja, prayed the court to allow the appeal, saying that no evidence was given to support the conviction, stating that during the trial in the lower court, none of the witnesses called by the respondents gave any evidence or mentioned the name of his client as part of the said offences.

“The appellant did not make any confessional statement during the trial, he did not call any witnesses because nothing was said against him. There was doubt in Adedoyin’s appearance in the hotel a day before the said occurrence,” Mr Eleja said.

He urged the court to allow the appeal and discharge the appellant of all the counts by which he was found guilty by the lower court.

The three-man panel led by Justice Olufemi Akeju reserved the judgement on the appeal after counsels of all the parties had adopted their written addresses to a date that would be communicated to the parties.

Mr Adegoke was a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University but went missing after lodging at the Hilton Hotel in November 2021.

The police began an investigation after his family raised the alarm, leading to the arrest of the owner of the hotel, Mr Adedoyin, and six employees.

Investigations revealed that the deceased’s body was evacuated by the workers at the hotel at the instruction of the hotel owner.

They also made efforts to wipe out traces of the incident.