OAU student killing: Appeal Court upholds Adedoyin’s death sentence

The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has upheld the death sentence of a popular hotel owner, Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, who was found guilty of the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a former Master’s student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.
Delivering its judgment on Thursday, the appellate court affirmed the earlier decision of the Osun State High Court, which sentenced Adedoyin to death.
The appeal court had reserved judgment on October 29, 2024.
The judgment read in part: “The judgment of the High Court of Osun State stands. Adedoyin’s appeal is dismissed in part. The Court of Appeal held that Adedoyin was properly convicted and sentenced to death.”

However, the court quashed and set aside the order of forfeiture of Hilton Hotel and the directive for Adedoyin and others to fund an education scholarship for the children of Timothy Adegoke.
Adegoke was found dead in November 2021 at Hilton Honours Hotel, Ile-Ife, where he had lodged.
On January 29, 2022, the 37-year-old Master of Business Administration student was buried beside the house he built for his parents in the New Eruwa area of Eruwa town, Ibarapa East Local Government Area of Oyo State.
He was mourned by family members, friends, and beneficiaries. His widow, Bolatito, wept uncontrollably and refused to leave the graveside despite pleas to step aside.
In March of the same year, Afeez Olaniyan, the Investigative Police Officer who conducted the initial investigation into Adegoke’s death, testified during the trial. He revealed how some defendants, arraigned in connection with the case, evacuated and dumped Adegoke’s corpse in the bush.
Being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, M. Omosun, Olaniyan stated that, according to statements from two staff members of Hilton Hotels — Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem — Adegoke’s body was wrapped in a duvet after his death and taken out in a Hilux van driven by the son of the hotel owner, Roheem Adedoyin, to a bush where it was dumped.
Dr. Waheed Oluogun, a consultant pathologist at the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, testified that Adegoke’s death resulted from severe haemorrhage caused by traumatic injuries.