Appeal Court Upholds Death Sentence for Hotel Owner Who Killed OAU Student

By Oluronke Kuku

The Court of Appeal, Akure Division, has upheld the death sentence passed on Dr. Rahmon Adedoyin, the owner of Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, for the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.

Adegoke was killed between November 5 and 7, 2021, while he lodged at the hotel. Adedoyin and two of his hotel staff, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem, were found guilty of the murder by the Osun High Court and sentence to death by hanging in May 2023.

Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, who deliver the jjudgment, said the appellate court unanimously upheld the lower court’s decision on the charges of conspiracy to kill and unlawful killing by the three convicts. However, the court set aside the judgment that the Estate of Adedoyin should be responsible for the payment of the school fees of the children of Adegoke.

The court also set aside the forfeiture order of Hilton Hotel and the Hilux pickup that was used to transport Adegoke’s corpse from the hotel to where it was buried to the Federal Government.

Counsel to the Osun government, Femi Falana, hails the judgment, saying that the lower court’s verdict have been substantially upheld. “The conviction of the defendants for conspiracy to kill and unlawful killing has been upheld by the court,” he said.