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Update: Murdered Timothy Adegoke : FG Discontinues Suit Filed Against, Rahmon Adedoyin, Nine Others In Abuja Court

Published

4 years ago

February 8, 2022

The Nigerian government has approached the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, asking it to discontinue the suit filed against Dr Ramon Adedoyin, the owner of the Hilton Hotel in Ile-Ife, Osun State, where a murdered postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Timothy Adegoke, had lodged.

In the court document obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday, the Nigerian government which is the complainant notified the court that it was discontinuing the matter in a letter, titled, “Notice of Discontinuance of Charge No. CR/015/22 Brought pursuant to Section 108 of Administration of Criminal Act (ACJA) 2015.”

The notice reads, “Take notice that the Complainant discontinues all of the proceedings in this case against the above-named Defendants for further investigation, dated this 7th day of February 2022.”

The Nigerian police had in January 2022 filed charges against the owner of Hilton Hotel, Adedoyin, and others over the death of Timothy Adegoke.

Controversy has surrounded Adegoke’s death since he went missing lodging at Hilton Hotel and Resort in Ile-Ife, Osun State, following which his corpse was later found in a grave.

He was in the ancient city to sit an examination at the OAU Distance Learning Centre, Moro campus, when he was declared missing on November 7, 2021.

The defendants had been listed as Dr Ramon Adedoyin, Adedeji Adesola, Magdalene Chiefuna, Adeniyi Aderogba, Oluwale Lawrence, Oyetunde Kazeem, Adebayo Adekunle, Prince Raheem Adedoyin, Esther Asigoh and Quadiri Moshood.

Those the police said are still at large are Raheem Adedoyin, Esther Asigoh and Quadiri Moshood.

The discontinuation may be in connection with a letter written by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, asking the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to move the trial of the suspects to Osun State.

Newsthumb on Monday reported that Falana, the lawyer representing the family of the slain master’s student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Timothy Adegoke, asked that the trial of all suspects arrested in connection with the student’s death at the hotel be held in Osun State.

The lawyer had said the demand was made since none of the elements of the offence to be tried by the FCT High Court took place in Abuja.

The letter had partly read, “To our utter dismay, the arrested suspects have been arraigned before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on a 7- count charge of conspiracy to commit murder, murder, conspiracy to commit improper or indecent interference with the body of the deceased, uttering and intent to destroy evidence under the Penal Code.

“However, as all the aforesaid criminal offences were said to have been committed at Ile-Ife you will agree with us that the suspects ought to have been charged before a court of competent jurisdiction in Osun State.

“Consequently, we are compelled to request you to use your good offices to ensure that the case file is handed over to the Attorney-General of Osun State to enable him to study same with a view to filing relevant charges against the suspects at the High Court of Osun State.

“Having demonstrated professionalism and unusual courage in the handling of the investigation of the case we are confident that you will not hesitate to accede to our request in the interest of justice. Otherwise, we shall not hesitate to institute legal proceedings to compel you to ensure that the criminal proceedings are instituted pursuant to the Criminal Code (34) Laws of Osun State.”

Our correspondent also learnt that the discontinuation of the trial by the Nigerian government was only a face-saving measure used by the police as Tuesday had already been set for the bail application for the defendants and they were certain to get the bail.

“This discontinuation was a face-saving measure by the police. Today (Tuesday) had been selected for his bail application and he was certain to get bail,” a source revealed.

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BREAKING: Tinubu declares emergency on security training institutions

Published

2 days ago

November 4, 2025

NewsThumb Magz

Disturbed by the state of training institutions for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other internal security agencies, President Bola Tinubu has declared emergency on the facilities.

The emergency declaration was revealed by the chairman, National Economic Council (NEC) ad-hoc Committee on the overhaul of security training institutions in Nigeria and Enugu Governor, Peter Mbah, during an on-the-spot assessment of facilities in Lagos.

Mbah, who was accompanied on the visit by his Ogun State counterpart, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Secretary of the Committee and former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alkali Usman Baba, as well as Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Special Protection Unit (SPU), Olatunji Disu, said they have a 30-day deadline to submit a comprehensive report to NEC for action.

He said the President gave the mandate at the last NEC which held on October 23, adding that he categorically told the council that the present state of the security training institutions did not align with his dream of growing the economy to one trillion dollar in the next five years, harping on the need for modernisation.

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NDDC Prepares for Agric Summit, Meets Stakeholders, Says MD

Published

6 days ago

October 31, 2025

NewsThumb Magz

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is hosting a two-day strategic meeting with commissioners, permanent secretaries, and directors of agriculture, fisheries & livestock in the nine Niger Delta states.

The meeting, which kicks off on Thursday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, would be addressed by the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, who is expected to outline his plans for a retreat and agricultural summit for the Niger Delta region in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s agrarian programme.

An invitation extended to the stakeholders by the NDDC Director of Agric and Fisheries, Dr Winifred Madume, stated that the Commission was determined to make the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government a reality in the Niger Delta region by ensuring food security for the people.

Recall that the NDDC Chief Executive Officer had earlier assured that the Commission would align with the President’s vision for agriculture, to ensure that agriculture served as a platform for peace and security in the Niger Delta region.

Ogbuku promised: “Any time from now, the NDDC will convene a mini-agricultural retreat for state governments and commissioners of agriculture. States in the region have their various areas of strength in agriculture. We aim to establish regional agricultural integration, which will later evolve into a regional agricultural summit where a comprehensive master plan for the region’s agriculture will be developed.”

The Managing Director affirmed that the NDDC was engaging all stakeholders to ensure harmony and cooperation in developing the hitherto neglected Niger Delta region.

Reflecting on the Federal Government’s agricultural policies, Ogbuku stressed the need to bring them home to the Niger Delta region, noting that the NDDC would continue to promote policies and programmes that enhance food security and poverty reduction in the states .

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Update : Tinubu approves 15% import duty on petrol, diesel, aimed to protect local refineries

Published

7 days ago

October 30, 2025

NewsThumb Magz

President Bola Tinubu has approved the introduction of a 15 per cent ad-valorem import duty on petrol and diesel imports into Nigeria.

The initiative is aimed at protecting local refineries and stabilising the downstream market, but it is likely to raise pump prices.

In a letter dated October 21, 2025, reported publicly on October 30, 2025, and addressed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Tinubu directed immediate implementation of the tariff as part of what the government described as a “market-responsive import tariff framework.”

The letter, signed by his Private Secretary, Damilotun Aderemi, and obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday, conveyed the President’s approval following a proposal by the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Zacch Adedeji.

The proposal sought the application of a 15 per cent duty on the cost, insurance and freight value of imported petrol and diesel to align import costs with domestic market realities.

Adedeji, in his memo to the President, explained that the measure was part of ongoing reforms to boost local refining, ensure price stability, and strengthen the naira-based oil economy in line with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda for energy security and fiscal sustainability.

“The core objective of this initiative is to operationalise crude transactions in local currency, strengthen local refining capacity, and ensure a stable, affordable supply of petroleum products across Nigeria,” Adedeji stated.

The FIRS boss also warned that the current misalignment between locally refined products and import parity pricing has created instability in the market.

“While domestic refining of petrol has begun to increase and diesel sufficiency has been achieved, price instability persists, partly due to the misalignment between local refiners and marketers,” he wrote.

He noted that import parity pricing- the benchmark for determining pump prices, often falls below cost recovery levels for local producers, particularly during foreign exchange and freight fluctuations, putting pressure on emerging domestic refineries.

Adedeji added that the government’s responsibility was now “twofold, to protect consumers and domestic producers from unfair pricing practices and collusion, while ensuring a level playing field for refiners to recover costs and attract investments.”

He argued that the new tariff framework would discourage duty-free fuel imports from undercutting domestic producers and foster a fair and competitive downstream environment.

According to projections contained in the letter, the 15 per cent import duty could increase the landing cost of petrol by an estimated N99.72 per litre.

“At current CIF levels, this represents an increment of approximately 99.72 per litre, which nudges imported landed costs toward local cost-recovery without choking supply or inflating consumer prices beyond sustainable thresholds. Even with this adjustment, estimated Lagos pump prices would remain in the range of N964.72 per litre ($0.62), still significantly below regional averages such as Senegal ($1.76 per litre), Cote d’Ivoire ($1.52 per litre), and Ghana ($1.37 per litre).”

The policy comes as Nigeria intensifies efforts to reduce dependence on imported petroleum products and ramp up domestic refining.

The 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery in Lagos has commenced diesel and aviation fuel production, while modular refineries in Edo, Rivers and Imo states have started small-scale petrol refining.

However, despite these gains, petrol imports still account for up to 67 per cent of national demand.

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