A 51-year-old Pastor, Adeniyi Adebayo; his wife, Bukola Adebayo, 49; and their son, Happiness Adebayo, 21, have been arraigned and remanded in a correctional centre for their alleged involvement in the death of a 21-year old graduate of Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa, Mojisola Awesu.
The suspects, alongside one other person, were arraigned before a Kwara State Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ilorin, the state capital.
The other suspect arraigned alongside the Adebayo family was 24-year-old Timileyin Kolawole.
Happiness, who had reportedly been rusticated from Summit University, Offa, was said to have murdered Awesu on August 10, 2024 inside an hotel room after deceiving her into attending a post-graduation party in Ilorin.
The suspects were charged before the court for alleged criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, theft, false personation, and causing disappearance of evidence contrary to sections 97, 221, 287, 179 and 167 of the Penal Code Law and Computer Related Frauds contrary to sections 14(2) (3), 22 (2) (3) of Cybercrime Prevention and Prohibition Law, 2015.
Also Read:
- I now know why Gov. Uba has been praising Tinubu — El-Rufai
- Surviving abroad marriage: My observations, by Tunde Asaju
- Why I dumped PDP – Nwoko; We won’t miss him — Commissioner
- Anambra: Three siblings killed, bodies dumped in deep freezer
- Telecom Tariff Hike: NLC suspends planned nationwide protest
The prosecution, led by Isaac Yakub, told the court that on August 14, 2024, one Blessing Ogungbenro reported at Offa Police Station that Awesu, her roommate and a graduating student of Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa, was missing since August 9, 2024 when she told her that she received a phone call from one Kolawole.
Awesu was said to have been connected to Happiness by Kolawole who requested her to follow him to his sign out party to be held at Whitefield Hotel, Ilorin for a fee of N15,000.
Yakub, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said: “Awesu Mojisola later accepted the offer and left Offa to meet up with Adebayo Joshua Happiness at Ilorin later and that while Awesu Mojisola was with Adebayo Joshua Happiness, she complained of being uncomfortable with Adebayo Joshua Happiness in the Hotel room that she was lodged because Adebayo Joshua Happiness was smoking Hemp.
“Thereafter, Awesu Mojisola’s phone suddenly became unreachable and her whereabouts became unknown.”
The Officer said immediate police action led to the arrest of Happiness, who was fingered in the sudden disappearance of Awesu, adding: “During investigation, it was revealed that Adebayo Joshua Happiness had deliberately lured Awesu Mojisola from Offa to Ilorin on the pretext of inviting her for a joint sign-out party of Summit and Al-Hikma Universities purported to be holding at Whitefield Hotel, but it was fake.
“At the early hours of 10/08/2024, Adebayo Joshua Happiness killed and abandoned the
lifeless body of Awesu Mojisola in the hotel room, locked the room and ran away with Mojisola Awesu iPhone 11pro and her sum of N15,600 to Offa.”
Yakub said during discreet investigation, Happiness confessed that he invited Awesu to Ilorin from Offa, deceiving her that there is a sign out party at Whitefield Hotel, Ilorin, killed her, abandoned her lifeless body in the hotel room, locked it and fled with her money and her iPhone to Offa.
He further told the court that Bukola, the mother of the prime suspect, later assisted Happiness to remove the sim card in the victim’s phone and hid it in a fence block far away from their residence at Ogunse area in Offa, while Adeniyi, the father of the suspect, assisted in keeping the iPhone in a family car parked within their compound.
The defence counsel, Adekunle Iwalaye, pleaded with the court to grant all the suspects bail, adding that they would not jump bail and be regular in their appearance during proceedings.
Iwalaye added: “They are ready to provide reliable sureties to stand for them in the court.”
But Yakub opposed the plea, saying the case was criminal and involved the termination of a life of a human being.
In his ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Wahab Saka, ordered the remand of the suspects in the Federal Correctional Center, Oke Kura, Ilorin.
Saka adjourned the case till September 12, 2024 for further hearing.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
