OAU Student: Court Strikes Out Timothy Adegoke’s Murder Case For Further Investigation By Police

By Florence Cornelius On Feb 8, 2022

High Court of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Gudu, in Apo, Abuja, has struck out the case of the alleged murder of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State.

In November last year, Adegoke was reportedly murdered at Hilton Honour Hotel and Resorts, Ile Ife.

Adegoke was in the ancient city to write an examination at OAU Distance Learning Centre, Moro campus, when he was declared missing on November 7, 2021.

His body was said to have been discovered after some suspects, including workers at the hotel, were arrested by the police for questioning.

Owner of the hotel, Rahmon Adedoyin; and six others charged with the murder of Timothy Adegoke.

Others charged alongside Adedoyin are: Adedeji Adesola, 23; Magdalene Chiefuna, 24; Adeniyi Aderogba, 37; Oluwale Lawrence, 37, Oyetunde Kazeem, 38; Adebayo Kunle, 35, and others at large.

Those at large were Prince Rahim Adedoyin, Esther Asifo and Quadiri Moshood.

The judge, Modupe Osho-Adebiyi, issued the order striking out the charges filed in connection to his death after the prosecuting counsel, Ochogwu Ogbe, moved an application for discontinuance of the case on Tuesday.

Mr Ogbe, representing the police prosecuting team, said the withdrawal of the case was necessitated by the need for further investigations on the case.

The police had moved Adedoyin and the six others from Osun State to Abuja for investigation and prosecution.

According to the case summary and proof of evidence earlier filed by the police, Adedoyin is being charged with illegally disposing of Adegoke’s body, altering and cancelling his payment receipt and removal of the hotel’s CCTV cameras with intent to destroy evidence.

However in a ‘Notice of Discontinuation of Charge No.CR/015/2022 brought pursuant to Section 108 of Administration of Criminal Act 2015’, on February 7, 2022, the police told the court to discontinue the matter.

“Take notice that the complainant discontinue all of the proceedings in this case against the above named defendants for further investigation,” said Ochogwu Ogbeh of Legal and Prosecution Section of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja.

The lawyer expressed that this was in view of some “new facts” found concerning the case.

The judge, Ms Osho-Adebiyi, subsequently struck out the case on the basis of the application.

She ruled;

Since the prosecutor has applied for a discontinuance of case and the defendants are not opposing the application, I hereby struck out the case.

It is, however, not immediately clear if the police would release the defendants during the period of further investigations.

The decision by the police to withdraw the charges came on the heels of the request by the Adegoke family lawyer, Femi Falana’s request for the case to be transferred to Ile Ife in Osun State.

The senior lawyer had argued that the criminal offences were said to have been committed at Ile-Ife and that the suspects ought to have been charged before a court of competent jurisdiction in Osun.