Justice for Timothy Adegoke Now!

Justice for Timothy Adegoke Now!

By Dammy Owot

Workers and Youth Solidarity Network

We recall that Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, was murdered on November 5, 2021, at Hilton Hotels, Mayfair, Ile Ife, where he lodged in order to take part in the examinations scheduled for November 6 and 7, 2021.

Perhaps, this painful death could have been averted if there were enough accommodations on campus to accommodate Timothy and thousands of other students who are sent off campus to face the menace of insecurity, cuts in power supply, mass extortion and exorbitant rent fees, among other inhumane conditions.

Timothy Adegoke was an MBA student at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). Having arrived for his examinations a day earlier, he decided to lodge at Hilton Hotels, owned by Dr Raymond Adedoyin (also the owner of Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, all in Osun state) so that he can arrive at his examination venue early on the second day. After a series of failed attempts by his family and friends to reach him, Timothy Adegoke was declared missing and efforts were made to locate him. The investigation conducted by the police found the lifeless body of Timothy Adegoke at a very close location to the hotel premises.

Further investigation discovered that he paid for his hotel accommodation via cash transfer to the bank account of one of the staff of the hotel instead of the hotel’s official account! As a result of this, the hotel management denied accommodation to Timothy Adegoke, as his record was not found.

This background information posed a lot of questions regarding the mode of operation of Hilton Hotels and other hotels across the country. The fact that the member of staff who was on duty asked for a direct transfer into her personal account means that it was not the first time that this kind of transaction was taking place!

The fact also that the management ordered the disposal and burial of the dead body without the consent of the family of the deceased is suspicious and needs to be carefully investigated.

We believe that understanding the real motives behind all of these will start to unveil more evidence not only on the murder case of Timothy Adegoke but also of other people who might may have been victims of this emerging barbarism.

The unavailability of safe, secure and convenient accommodation facilities for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Obafemi Awolowo University is an issue that deserves immediate attention, in the opinion of Workers and Youth Solidarity Network.

This problem is not only particular to OAU but to every other institution in the country. The management of these institutions prioritizes luxury and white elephant projects over vital welfare ones.

Often, the students of OAU have protested about the unavailability of accommodation on campus and demanded that more funds be allocated towards building more hostels. Sadly, these protests were met with stiff responses by the management and even more anti-students policies that sent thousands of students to live off-campus where there is little or no security at all.

Students who live off campus often encounter issues like theft, robbery, banditry, bag-snatching, rape and all sort of assaults. There is no question that if there were enough convenient accommodations on the campus, people like Timothy would probably have ultimately escaped their untimely and avoidable death.

We, in the Workers and Youth Solidarity Network, believe that for these problems to be eradicated, management should invest in mass housing for the students inside the campus. This is the only way to ensure security for all the students.

We also maintain that no stone should be left unturned in order to uncover the real events and motives behind the death of Timothy Adegoke. We demand that justice prevails in the ongoing court hearing. This is not one isolated case; we need lasting solutions to the unending insecurity issues in the country.

While we demand that the current government should take all necessary measures to provide security for the Nigerian youth and people, we hold that only a government armed with socialist policies can completely eradicate the reasons behind such violent phenomena.

The issue of mass housing, security, free and functional education, and public ownership of collective management of public resources can only be achieved and actualized under a government which cares for and is accountable to working-class people, a government armed with socialist ideas.