OAU student: Trial resumes Friday

A staff member of Hilton Hotels, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Kazeem Oyetunde, on Thursday told an Osun State High Court, sitting in Osogbo, that he did not enter into an oath or administer oath on the staff of the hotel, after the corpse of a Masters student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Timothy Adegoke, was found in the facility.

Adegoke’s death occurred when he lodged in the hotel on November 5, 2021, and the owner of the facility, Dr Ramon Adedoyin, and six of his staff members, including Oyetunde have since been on trial on charges bordering on murder, indecent interference with the corpse and administration of an oath.

At the resumed hearing after charges against the defendants had been amended, Oyetunde, the fifth defendant in the matter, who was under cross-examination by the prosecutor, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), said the hotel’s Managing Director, Mr Roheem Adedoyin, had told him and another staff member, Adeniyi Aderogba, that he was taking Adegoke’s corpse to a mortuary after the body had been evacuated from the room, and they both accompanied him in a Hilux van.

He said though Roheem, son of the hotel owner, did not take the corpse to the mortuary as he initially informed them, instead, he dumped the deceased (Adegoke) and his personal belongings at a spot along Ife-Ede road, he (Oyetunde) did not bother to report the incident to the police again, since Managing Director, a superior officer of the company was already handling the situation.

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Asked who killed Adegoke, Oyetunde, said he did not know how the OAU student died, adding that Adedoyin did not visit the hotel on the day the deceased lodged in the facility.

Counsel to the third and sixth defendants, Dr Rowland Otaru (SAN), urged the court to resolve issues around fiat for the prosecution, insisting that Falana did not have the permission of the state’s Attorney General to prosecute the matter.

Responding, Falana urged Otaru to apply to the court to challenge his status as the prosecutor of the matter.

But Osun Chief Judge, Adepele Ojo, said the matter must proceed without further delay and asked Falana to produce fiat given to him to prosecute the matter.

She then adjourned the matter till Friday for the continuation of the hearing.