The four suspects face multiple charges, including criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, theft, false personation, and the disappearance of evidence, all in violation of various sections of the Penal Code Law.
A pastor, Adebayo Adeniyi (51) popularly known as Prophet Ogunse, and his Bukola Adeniyi (49)—and another suspect, 24-year-old Timileyin Kolawole, have been charged to court for murder by the Nigerian police in Kwara State.
Also, their son who is a final-year student at Summit University, Offa, and another suspect were arraigned on Tuesday at a Kwara State Chief Magistrate Court in Ilorin over the alleged murder of Awesu Mojisola, a 21-year-old graduate of the Kwara State College of Health Technology.
Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that the incident reportedly took place on August 10, 2024, inside a room at Whitefield Hotel, Ilorin.
The primary suspect, Adebayo Happiness, is accused of luring Mojisola to a post-graduation party that never materialized. Instead, she was allegedly murdered by Happiness within the confines of the hotel room.
The four suspects face multiple charges, including criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, theft, false personation, and the disappearance of evidence, all in violation of various sections of the Penal Code Law.
Meanwhile, they are charged with computer-related fraud under the Cybercrime Prevention and Prohibition Law of 2015.
ASP Isaac Yakub, leading the prosecution, informed the court that on August 14, 2024, Blessing Ogungbenro reported to the Offa Police Station that her roommate, Awesu Mojisola, a graduating student of the Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa, had been missing since Friday, August 9, 2024. Ogungbenro stated that Mojisola had received a phone call from Kolawola Timileyin, who invited her to join Adebayo Joshua Happiness, a final-year student of Summit University, Offa, Kwara State, at his sign-out party at the Whitefield Hotel, Ilorin, for a fee of N15,000.
“Awesu Mojisola later accepted the offer and left Offa to meet up with Adebayo Joshua Happiness at Ilorin lately and 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 adding that immediate police action led to the arrest of Adebayo Joshua Hoppiness who was fingered in the sudden disappearance of Awesu Mojisola.”
According to him, “During an investigation, it was revealed that Adebayo Joshua Happiness had deliberately lured Awesu Mojisola from Offa to Ilorin on the pretence 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.
“In 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’s iPhone 11 pro and her sum of N15,600 to Offa.
Meanwhile, during a discreet investigation, Happiness reportedly confessed to luring Mojisola from Offa to Ilorin under the pretense of attending a sign-out party at the Whitefield Hotel. Once there, he allegedly killed her, abandoned her lifeless body in the hotel room, locked it, and fled with her money and iPhone back to Offa.
The prosecution further informed the court that the prime suspect's mother, Adeniyi Bukola, later helped Happiness remove the SIM card from the victim's phone and hide it in a fence block far from their residence in the Ogunse area of Offa, while Happiness' father assisted in concealing the iPhone in a family car parked within their compound.
The court, however, did not take the suspects' pleas.
The defense counsel, Mr. A. Iwalaye, requested that the court grant bail to all the suspects, assuring that they would not jump bail and would attend the proceedings regularly, further stating that they were prepared to provide reliable sureties.
The prosecutor opposed the bail request, arguing that the case involved the criminal termination of a human life.
Chief Magistrate Mr. Wahab Saka ordered the suspects to be remanded at the Federal Correctional Centre in Oke Kura, Ilorin.
However, the case was adjourned until September 12, 2024, for further hearing.