Rights lawyer Femi Falana has written to the inspector general of police Usman Baba, asking for the transfer of suspects involved in the death of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).
Mr Falana urged the IGP in a letter dated February 4 to transfer the case which is before an Abuja High Court to a competent court in Osun where the alleged incident occurred.
The rights lawyer was recently hired by the Adegoke family to get justice.
“Consequently, we are compelled to request you to use your good offices to ensure that the case file is handed over to the Attorney-General of Osun State to enable him to study same with a view to filing relevant charges against the suspects at the High Court of Osun State,” part of the letter read.
“Having demonstrated professionalism and unusual courage in the handling of the investigation of the case we are confident that you will not hesitate to accede to our request in the interest of justice. Otherwise, we shall not hesitate to institute legal proceedings to compel you to ensure that the criminal proceedings are instituted pursuant to the Criminal Code (34) Laws of Osun State.”
Adegoke died at Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Ile-Ife, while preparing for an examination. He was subsequently buried by the hotel management in a shallow grave without the knowledge of his family or the police.
Those charged include the hotelier Rahmon Adedoyin, Adedeji Adesola, 23; Magdalene Chiefuna, 24; Adeniyi Aderogba, 37; Oluwale Lawrence, 37; Oyetunde Kazeem, 38; Adebayo Kunle, 35, and others still at large.
Although Adedoyin maintains he was not present when the incident occurred, the police charged him for 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.
