There was heavy security presence at the entrance to the premises of the Osun State High Court, Oke-Fia, on Thursday morning as Rahman Adedoyin and six others arrested in connection with the death of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, appeared before the court.
The defendants were due to appear at Court 1, where Osun State Chief Judge, Adepele Ojo, would preside over the matter.
DAILY POST observed that a red-coloured Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) and several police patrol vans were strategically placed at the entrance to the court premises.
Also, armed to the teeth security personnel and some plain-clothed security men, suspected to be operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) were on the ground to forestall any unforeseen circumstances.
The seven defendants, led by Adedoyin who arrived early to the court were also observed making their way into the courtroom.
Lawyers, journalists and people going in were subjected to thorough searching and made to present valid identifications by the plain-clothed security personnel and court protocol officers before they were allowed into the court premises and into the courtroom
Recall that Adedoyin and six other suspects including Adedeji Adesola, Magdalene Chiefuna, Adeniyi Aderogba, Oluwale Lawrence, Oyetunde Kazeem and Adebayo Kunle, had previously been arraigned before the Federal High Court, Abuja, on counts bordering on conspiracy, unlawful interference with a dead body, altering and intent to destroy evidence and murder.
However, counsel to Adegoke’s family, Femi Falana, had written to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba asking that the matter be transferred to Osun State, where the crime was allegedly committed.
Adegoke, an MBA student, died under suspicious circumstances in Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Adegoke, who had since been buried, had arrived Ile-Ife to write his examination and lodged in the hotel before meeting his death.
Adedoyin’s son, who is also a suspect, is still at large.
