Pat Stevens/
Legal counsel to the family of late Timothy Adegoke Oludare, who was allegedly murdered on November 5, while lodging at Hilton and Resorts Hotel, Ile Ife, owned by Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, the founder of Oduduwa University, has tasked the police to ensure justice in the matter.
In a statement titled, ‘Public Statement on the Gruesome Murder of Mr. Timothy Oludare’, issued by Kayode Ajulo & Co Castle of Law yesterday, the law firm said it was “unequivocally” instructed by the family of the deceased to issue the statement.
The statement emphasises the need to bring all those involved in the murder to justice, based on preliminary findings which showed that the 37-year-old father of three “was strangled to death in his hotel room, his body was subsequently mutilated and wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket/bedsheet belonging to the hotel and finally buried in a shallow grave near the hotel”.
The statement reads, “We act as solicitors to the family of the deceased; our Client, whose illustrious son, Mr. Timothy Oludare, was murdered in a cold-blooded manner in his hotel room at Ile-Ife, Osun State and it is on their unequivocal instructions that we issue this statement.
“For contextual expediency, it is needful to state that the late Timothy Oludare, a 37-year-old husband and father of three had travelled from Abuja to Ile-Ife, Osun State on the 5th of November, 2021 in furtherance of his Masters of Business Administration studies at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. He subsequently checked in at the Hilton and Resorts Hotel owned by Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, the founder of Oduduwa University on the same ill-fated day. He went ‘missing’ for the next two days only for his dead and mutilated body to be found buried in a shallow grave near the hotel.
“We welcome with keen interest, the news of the arrest of six suspects linked to the gruesome murder of Mr. Timothy Oludare by men of the Osun State Police Command on the 15th November 2021. Indeed, the preliminary investigation, arrests and findings have nullified the initial apprehension that the deceased must have fallen into the hands of killer herdsmen which if true, could have exacerbated ethnic tensions in Osun State and beyond. While commending the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force for these painstaking efforts, we however strongly want to emphasize that it will serve the overriding interest of justice to bring all those involved in this dastardly murder to book.
“It is worrisome and sad that Mr. Timothy Oludare can be cut down in his prime for motives best known to his killers which of course, must be extracted and investigated by the Police without delay. It portends serious danger that a place meant to serve the temporary accommodation needs of Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike could in actual fact be a place where cold-blooded murders are orchestrated and carried out in the most desperate and daring manner. Again, we note the temerity and the audacity in which the murder of the late Timothy Oludare was carried out as contained in the preliminary findings made by the Osun State Police Command. According to the findings, our Client’s son was strangled to death in his hotel room, his body was subsequently mutilated and wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket/bedsheet belonging to the hotel and finally buried in a shallow grave near the hotel.
“The law is clear that an offender(s) who causes the death of a person is guilty of murder under 316 of the Criminal Code Laws Cap 34, Laws of Osun State and same is punishable by death under Section 319 of the same law and it is our legally considered view that the confessional statements as obtained from some of the suspects are cogent enough to establish the varying degrees of guilt of all the suspects.
“As things stand, the hotel and its vicinity are a crime scene and should be treated as such, nothing must be on the way of a thorough and wider investigation of this highly reprehensible murder because nobody irrespective of their status or influence is bigger than the extant laws of the land.
“We therefore urge utmost professionalism by the Police in this matter; no stone must be left unturned to get to the root of this matter. On our part, we are ready to partner with the Police to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done. While we trust that this matter will reach its expected legal conclusion, we want to reiterate that we will not hesitate for a second to do everything within legally permissible limits to fight anyone who attempts to frustrate the expected end of justice.
“As it is historically believed that Ile-Ife is the cradle of the human race, it is important that the ancient city and by extension, other parts of the nation must not be allowed to become safe havens for murderers and other criminals alike. It shreds our collective humanity into pieces when the blood of any innocent Nigerian can be spilled without consequences.
“Conclusively, as a firm committed to the promotion of the rule of law and protection of the fundamental rights of all law abiding citizens which include among others, the right to life, we are emphatically restating that the killers of Timothy Oludare must face the full weight of the law.”
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