The report issued by the pathologists who examined the corpse of the late MBA student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Timothy Adegoke, is not definitive, experts have said.
The report, according to inside sources, was only definitive to the extent that his internal organs were intact.
The pathologists also did not see any sign of violence, but could not confirm if he was poisoned, as no toxicity test was carried out.
This was blamed on the level of decomposition of the body at the time of the examination.
Recall that Adegoke, 37, died in unclear circumstances after he allegedly lodged at Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife shortly on Friday November 5. His corpse was later found buried in a bush on the outskirt of the city, wrapped in hotel beddings.
Staff of the hotel initially denied that Adegoke lodged at the hotel when detectives began the probe of the whereabouts of the deceased. However, they were able to trace the deceased to the hotel after a few clues, including the transfer of some money into the account of the hotel receptionist.
The hotel staff and owner were subsequently picked up and detained to help with the investigations. They have all denied having anything to do with the death of the 37-year-old student.
As part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Adegoke’s death, an autopsy was carried out on the body.
The autopsy was conducted on November 22 by six experts including three pathologists. Their report was presented to the Police Headquarters, Abuja with a copy submitted to the Osun State Police Command penultimate Thursday.
The findings have not been made public, but sources told The Nation, the report used the term, severe trauma’ as the cause of Adegoke’s death.
Experts described the term as ‘too open ended’ and amenable to various interpretations.
Worse still, there was no mention of the time he suffered the trauma relative to the time of death and the type of trauma.
It was further learnt that the pathologists found no incision, cut or blood injuries, bruises or wound on his neck. They also did not find any fracture wounds or injuries to his ribs.
The pathologists were said to have found sub-capital fracture on its femur, but they did not indicate whether this occurred before or after his death.
Adegoke’s widow, Bolatito, told The Nation that she has not been officially told about the result of the autopsy.
She said: “We are on the matter. Nobody is threatening me, but they are threatening my in-law who is the elder brother of my husband, Gbade Adegoke. They attempted to kidnap him about four days ago.
“The police told us that they would announce the results of the autopsy officially, but I don’t know any latest development about it.
“But I was told that the result of the autopsy favoured us. The police have informed us officially that they have received the reports but I don’t know the content of it.
“We have our pathologist who participated in the procedure. If not because of the type of country we are in, this issue is glaring that my husband was killed. We don’t need to stress ourselves on it.
“He went for his final exam and slept in the hotel. He was killed, buried with the bed sheet of the hotel. We have evidence. I pray that the Nigerian system will not fail me to get justice for my late husband.
“The more I am hearing issues around this autopsy, the more I’m saddened, because they already have overwhelming evidence to nail all the culprits. My husband was hale and healthy when he left Abuja for Ile-Ife.
“Let us even assume that he was sick to death, did they inform family members? They disposed of all his phones and my husband’s personal belongings and even buried his corpse in a shallow grave.
“They (suspects) don’t have any defence. They did not inform any member of the family to notify them of his (husband) death.
“If they claim that there were drugs in his bag, was it to kill himself? He attended a meeting in Akure, if he was not feeling too well I won’t allow him to go for the exam. I did not see any drug with my husband. He was not hypertensive or had any medication before.
“Unfortunately, the autopsy report took a long time than usual. In a sane country, it takes 72 hours. People called us that they were ready to fly the corpse of my husband to an advanced country for an autopsy.”
