Osun deputy gov appears before panel probing Adeleke’s death

Titi Laoye-Tomori, deputy governor of Osun state, on Monday appeared before the coroner inquest set up by Rauf Aregbesola, governor of the state, to probe the death of Isiaka Adeleke, a senator from the state.

Laoye-Tomori, who arrived the courtroom around 10:35am, said she waived her immunity to appear before the coroner to give evidence because of the importance of the probe.

A coroner’s inquest is an inquiry into the manner and cause of an individual’s death, conducted by a coroner or deputy coroner with a court reporter and six jurors present.

The jurors are citizens of the county in which the death took place.

Laoye-Tomori and the late Adeleke were said to have sat side-by-side each other at the burial of the grandmother of Amobi Akintola , the APC senatorial chairman in Osun west senatorial district on April 22.

She tendered her manifest for April 22 as an exhibit before, Olusegun Ayilara, the coroner chairman.

Laoye-Tomori told the coroner that she decided to sit beside Adeleke at the event because of the humility exhibited by him by receiving her when she alighted from her car.

She said the man who initially sat next to the late Adeleke vacated his seat for her.

Meanwhile, Amobi Akintola, chairman of APC in Osun west senatorial district, told the panel that late Adeleke did not eat any food at the burial of his grandmother on April 22.

Akintola said this while giving evidence before the coroner.

He said the late senator attended the burial ceremony in company with about 30 political aides and allies.

Akintola said that those who came with Adeleke ate but he (Adeleke) did not eat any of the foods served there.

He told the coroner that he served Adeleke a bottle of Remmy Martins, an alcoholic wine, but the senator brought his own bottle of Remmy Martins from his vehicle which he and his friends drank.

Also, Adebisi Adenle, the chief medical director (CMD) of Biket Hospital, Osogbo, said that Adeleke was brought to his hospital dead on April 23.

Adenle said Adeleke was brought to his hospital around 10:15am, and he pronounced him dead.

He told the coroner that he asked the family to take the corpse to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) teaching hospital morgue because his hospital did not have a mortuary.

The Adeleke family has rejected the inquest, saying that none of them would appear before the panel to testify.

Deji Adeleke, the immediate younger brother of the deceased, said this at a news conference on May 7, in Ede, the Adeleke’s hometown.

He alleged that the outcome of the inquest had been predetermined.