A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Tuesday struck out criminal charges filed against the Chairman of Hilton Hotels, Ile Ife, Osun state, Chief Rahman Adedoyin and some of his workers over the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The deceased student reportedly died under mysterious circumstances at the hotel in November 2021, and was buried in a shallow grave. The sad incident led to the arrest of the hotel owner along with some of his workers.
Justice Modupe Osho-Adebiyi struck out the case when police lawyers requested that they needed to conduct further investigations into the murder of the student.
The Force Central Investigations Department (FCID) had filed criminal charges against Adedoyin accusing him of attempted felony, conspiracy, unlawful interference with Adegoke’s corpse and tampering with the hotel’s receipt and CCTV camera with intent to conceal evidence to prove that the deceased Adegoke lodged in the hotel.
The police allegedly excluded Adedoyin from the murder charge brought against his hotel workers and opted for lesser charges against him.
However, counsel to the deceased family, Mr Femi Falana SAN, confirmed to newsmen that new charges will be filed at the Osun State High Court, being where the alleged cause of action originated from.
Those charged with the murder are 23 year old Adedeji Adesola, Magdalene Chiefuna, 24; Adeniyi Aderogba and Oluwale Lawrence both 37 years old; Oyetunde Kazeem, 38; Adebayo Kunle, 35; while others are said to still be at large.