The owner of Hilton Hotel and founder of Oduduwa University, Rahmon Adedoyin has said that his Hotel staff hid the corpse of Timothy Adegoke, the late master’s student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), for fear of being arrested.
Adedoyin spoke through his lawyer, Williams Abiodun in an interview with newsmen who said that the student “died naturally in his sleep” on the night he lodged at the hotel.
37-year-old Adegoke, an indigene of Eruwa in Oyo state, was said to have travelled from Abuja to write an exam at the OAU distance learning centre in Moro, Osun State, on November 5.
He was, however, declared missing two days later, before he was found dead.
The police had earlier arrested Adedoyin as the investigation into the matter continues.
Abiodun said that his client had originally denied that the late student lodged in his hotel because there was no record in the company’s account book showing he paid to use the facility.
According to him, the deceased paid into the personal account of Adesola Tobilola, a receptionist at the hotel, who confessed to the police that she shared the money with another staff.
The lawyer added that when the staff discovered that Adegoke had died, they were scared that they would be arrested and therefore whisked his corpse away from the hotel and dumped him in a neighbouring area.
“When the police arrested Adesola, they notified me that they needed to question other staff and I took five of them to the police but they were detained.
“When they interrogated Adesola, she disclosed that the man (Adegoke) transferred the money into her personal account and (the money) was stolen without recording it in the hotel’s account.
“She shared the money with another staff. That was why the hotel initially denied that Adegoke lodged in the hotel.
“Last week Saturday, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) told me that all the arrested staff had confessed that Adegoke actually slept in the hotel but died in his sleep naturally.
“The staff had shared the money that was paid by the guest and did not input it in the record.
“They knew there was a problem, they took the body in the dead of the night and dumped it somewhere and returned to the hotel as if nothing happened.
“Chief (Adedoyin) questioned them repeatedly but they all denied it until police forced them to talk.
“They did not bury the body, they took the police to where the body was dumped. Where they dumped the body was on farmland on the Ife/Osogbo road. The farmers hinted at the police.
“Only two staff were involved in dumping the corpse of Adegoke; the receptionist and one Kosim who is the plumber of the hotel. Kosim is this Tabligh Muslim, not a spiritualist,” Abiodun said.
The lawyer added that the body of the late student was intact when it was recovered.
“Adegoke’s body was intact when it was recovered. He died a natural death because he was resting his head on his palm. He spread his legs tiredly.
“There was no single mark of violence on his body. The only offence these people committed was wrongful interference and dumping of the dead body,” he stated.
Abiodun also dismissed claims that his client attempted to bribe the family of the deceased.
“Adedoyin never sent me to any of the family members of the deceased to bribe them.
“I have never seen any member of the victim’s family. Chief was not around when the incident happened. I don’t know when his corpse was discovered in the hotel room, but it seems he died on Friday night or Saturday.
“The IPO told me that the guy was feeling sick on the 5th of November, that was the reason why the wife was worried and called her husband on the 6th repeatedly without anybody picking. The remains were probably discovered on Sunday by one of the workers,” the lawyer added.
