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… As NANS warns against interference in police investigation
Abiodun OBA
Mr Kayode Ajulo, the lawyer of the family of the late Timothy Adegoke has frowned at the recent audio broadcast by the owner of Hiltons Hotels and Resorts, Dr. Rahman Adedoyin, in the custody of the Osun State Police Command, .
Ajulo, on Wednesday, said the broadcast was meant to influence public opinion and rouse sympathies of the suspect’s friends.
Ajulo said, “We, the law firm and the family representatives, raised an objection and we sent it to the IG (Inspector General) that we see it (recording) as more as preferential allowing him to record while in custody. Making a call is different from when you record and make a broadcast to the whole world as if you are the President of Nigeria on an occasion in the nation.
“We’ve asked the police why must they allow their police to be a studio. Though they may have come with their explanation that it was done before he was invited and detained but this is the same man that said he did not know anything until he was arrested and taken to custody. The question now is that: if actually, he has done the recording before, are we now saying he predetermined the whole thing before his arrest?
“We are not going to teach the police how to do its investigation but Nigerians are not fools, Nigerians are watching.
“It is so clear to the whole world. The person in question is influential and making that broadcast alone is enough to influence the whole world, his friends and his supporters. It is like a call to action. If it was a common man that is being held, would he be accorded that treatment? Certainly not.”
Ajulo also said the legal team would continue to monitor the case and ensure justice is served, adding that the family has not asked that the matter be transferred to Abuja.
Meanwhile, the Osun State Police Command has said it is probing the release of an audio recording made by the prime suspect.
Recall, in the audio recording, Adedoyin denied complicity in the death of Adegoke, a Masters’ student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, who died in controversial circumstances in his hotel and was buried in a shallow grave without the knowledge of his family or the police.
Ajulo said an autopsy to determine the cause of the death of Adegoke was conducted on Monday and the report should be out in weeks.
In its reaction, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, said a recent audio recording released by Adedoyin while in police net showed that he is being accorded luxury.
In a statement, NANS warned everyone involved in the investigation that “NANS will stop at nothing to expose and fight anyone irrespective of how highly placed contemplating to pervert the cause of investigation or justice.”
The statement signed by its President, Sunday Asefon, was titled, ‘Timothy Adegoke murder: NANS calls for transparency and justice, irrespective of how highly placed are the perpetrators’.
It read in part, “We equally frown upon the audio making the round where a principal suspect in the murder, the Chief Executive Officer of Hilton Hotel Dr. Rahman Adedoyin appears to be making a statement denying his involvement in the murder.
“We berate the luxury accorded Dr. Rahman Adedoyin to have access to his phone, make a video recording and share it while in the custody of the Nigerian Police Force. We believe this luxury is exclusive and couldn’t have accorded of murder suspect of a lower social class.
“Given the enormity of material evidence against the suspect, staff, and management of Hilton Hotel, we advise that law enforcement agents must fight any temptation to accord the suspect preferential treatment or third-party influence which may pervert the cause of justice.
“Also, we demand an immediate multi-agency manhunt for Rahim Adegoke, the MD of the Hotel who is equally the son of the proprietor of the hotel fingered in the gruesome murder of Timothy Adegoke. We believe government must invest the same energy invested in arresting secessionist agitators in arresting this fleeing murder suspect.
“In the same vein, we call on security agencies to conduct forensic analysis and search around the hotel vicinity to ascertain whether or not more people have fallen victim to this heinous crime whose body might as well be dumped in a shallow grave near the hotel.”
Asefon also said he has constituted a three-man NANS Committee to follow up with the investigation into the death of Adegoke and brief the secretariat on development in real-time.
“Our prayers, condolences, and solidarity go to the family as they navigate this hard time. We pray God will grant them justice which will serve as the foundation for their healing,” the statement added.
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