The Court of Appeal, Akure Division, has firmly upheld the death sentence of Dr. Rahmon Adedoyin, the owner of Oduduwa University, for the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
Adegoke was killed between November 5 and November 7, 2021, while staying at Adedoyin’s Hilton Hotel in Ile-Ife. Adedoyin, along with two hotel employees, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem, was found guilty of the crime by the Osun High Court in May 2023, and all three were sentenced to death by hanging.
Adedoyin appealed the trial court’s verdict, but the appellate court unanimously upheld the conviction for conspiracy to kill and unlawful killing. Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, delivering the ruling, confirmed that the death sentence was appropriate for the crime.
While maintaining the death penalty, the Court of Appeal set aside other aspects of the trial court’s judgment, including the ruling that Adedoyin’s estate should pay Adegoke’s children’s school fees. The court also annulled the order to forfeit Hilton Hotel and a Hilux vehicle used to transport Adegoke’s body to the burial site to the Federal Government
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Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, expressed his satisfaction after the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, upheld the death sentence handed down to Dr. Adedoyin for the murder of Adegoke.
Falana, who was represented by Mrs. Fatima Adesina, celebrated the ruling, stating that the appellate court had largely upheld the lower court’s verdict. He emphasised that the convictions for conspiracy to kill and unlawful killing were maintained, and the only aspects overturned were the decisions related to the payment of Adegoke’s children’s school fees and the forfeiture of the convicts’ properties.
“Substantially, the judgment of the lower court has been upheld. For the killing, they have been convicted by the trial court for conspiracy to kill, and unlawful killing. Those convictions were upheld by the court,” Falana said, expressing his contentment with the decision.
“ So the only aspect of the judgment that was set aside was in respect of the various decisions of the trial court which stated that the convicts would be responsible for the education of the children of the deceased.
“And the Appeal Court has also set aside the lower court’s judgment on the forfeiture of the convicts’ properties,” he said.
