Police: Why autopsy on OAU master’s student is delayed

The Osun state police command says the planned autopsy on Timothy Adegoke, the late student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), is delayed because his family insisted on being part of the process.

Adegoke, a master’s degree student at OAU, was said to have travelled from Abuja to write an exam at the OAU distance learning centre in Moro, Osun on November 5.

The student would later lodge at Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ile-Ife.

But on November 7, he was declared missing — only to be found dead.

His controversial death has continued to elicit outrage, with several individuals demanding the arrest and prosecution of those found guilty.

Speaking with NAN on Sunday, Yemisi Opalola, the command’s spokesperson, said the autopsy will now hold on Monday at the Osun University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Osogbo.

Opalola also said the deceased’s body was deposited at UTH, not Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH) which she mentioned during a radio programme “based on misinformation.”

She added that no part of the deceased’s body was removed when it was exhumed in the presence of his family members, the police and the pathologist as rumoured in some quarters.

“The family has indicated that they will be available on Monday (tomorrow) for the conduct of the autopsy,” she said.

“I will like to add that the deceased’s family members were equally present when the remains of the deceased were exhumed.

“The police, a pathologist and family members of the deceased witnessed the exhumation of the body and the family members can attest to it that no body part of the deceased was missing.”

The police had earlier arrested Ramon Adedoyin, who is the chairman of Hilton Hotel and Resort, as investigation into the matter continues.

Williams Abiodun, Adedoyin’s lawyer, had also claimed that staff of his client’s hotel hid the student’s corpse — after he “died naturally in his sleep” — for fear of being arrested.