On Thursday morning, there was heavy security presence at the entrance to the Osun State High Court; Oke-Fia, as Rahman Adedoyin and six others arrested in connection with the death of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, appeared before the court.
The defendants were scheduled to appear in Court 1, where Osun State Chief Judge Adepele Ojo would preside.
A red Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) and several police patrol vans were strategically stationed at the court’s entrance.
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In addition, armed security personnel and plain-clothed security men suspected of being Department of State Services (DSS) operatives were on the ground to prevent any unforeseen events.
The seven defendants, led by Adedoyin, who arrived early to court were also seen entering the courtroom.
Before being allowed into the court premises and into the courtroom, lawyers, journalists, and visitors were subjected to a thorough search and required to present valid identification by plain-clothed security personnel and court protocol officers.
Adedoyin and six other suspects, including Adedeji Adesola, Magdalene Chiefuna, Adeniyi Aderogba, Oluwale Lawrence, Oyetunde Kazeem, and Adebayo Kunle, were previously charged in the Federal High Court in Abuja with conspiracy, unlawful interference with a dead body, altering and destroying evidence, and murder.
However, Adegoke’s family’s counsel, Femi Falana, had written to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, requesting that the case be transferred to Osun State, where the alleged crime was committed.
Adegoke, an MBA student, died in the Hilton Hotel in Ile-Ife, Osun State, under suspicious circumstances.
Adegoke, who had since been buried, had arrived in Ile-Ife to take his examination, and had stayed in the hotel before dying.
Adedoyin’s son is a suspect as well.
