The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State capital, has upheld the death sentence of Dr Ramon Adedoyin, a prominent hotel owner, for his involvement in the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a former Master’s student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
The appellate court delivered the judgement in Adedoyin’s appeal against the judgement handed over to him by the High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, affirmed that the lower court properly convicted Adedoyin.
In the judgement, however, Oyebisi Omoleye nullified the judgment of the state High Court on the forfeiture of his property to the state government.
The Appellate Court also quashed the judgment mandating Adedoyin to be responsible for the education of the children of the deceased.
According to the judgement: “The judgment of the High Court of Osun State stands. Adedoyin’s appeal is dismissed in part.
“Order of forfeiture of Hilton Hotel quashed and set aside. The order of education scholarship to children of Timothy Adegoke by Adedoyin and others has been quashed and set aside.
Reacting to the judgement, the counsel to the respondent, Fatima Adesina, who represented the state government on behalf of Femi Falana SAN, said, “By the judgment just delivered today by the Court of Appeal, the Court has upheld the conviction by the Trial Court for those various offences, especially for conspiracy to kill, unlawful killing, accessory after the fact, and some other offences.
“However, the Court quashed certain aspects of the decision of the trial Court, especially the decision that relates to the order of the Trial Court mandating the respondent, the convicts, to be responsible for the education of the children of the deceased Timothy Adegoke.
“The Court, in its judgment today, held that for convictions, the jurisdiction of the Court is limited to the statutory provisions as to the penalty provided by the law. So, the statutory requirement is that either the court or the trial court comply with the maximum penalty or the minimum. So, for anything outside the two, the Court will not have jurisdiction to do so.
“So, on that basis, the conviction of the appellant, Dr Rahman Adedoyin Dayu, to be responsible for the education of the deceased and the forfeiture of his property to the state government have been quashed by the Court of Appeal.”
It would be recalled that on October 29, 2024, the appeal court reserved judgment on the matter, 16 months after the industrialist had filed an appeal.
Adegoke, a former Master’s student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, was killed in Adedoyin’s hotel after travelling to Ile-Ife to write his MBA exams.
