‘The mark of a wicked man’ — How killer Rahmon Adedoyin gave rams, cash and cheques to Osun people

On May 30, a high court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, sentenced Rahmon Adedoyin, the owner of Hilton Hotel and Resorts, to death by hanging.

Apart from Adedoyin, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem, two other hotel staff, were also sentenced to death for the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a master’s student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

Roheem, Adedoyin’s son, who also had a hand in Adegoke’s death, has been identified as the fourth murderer. He is, however, still at large.

Before Adegoke’s death, and apart from being a renowned multibillionaire and industrialist in southwestern Nigeria, Adedoyin was the Maye of Yorubaland.

He got the chieftaincy title from Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the late Alaafin of Oyo, for his growing influence and business strides.

When the OAU’s student’s killing became a matter of national interest in 2021, and because his corpse had been mutilated when it was discovered, many believed the incident was a case of ritual killing carried out by the wealthy and powerful in the society.

Around the same period, however, Iyabo Adedoyin, wife of the accused businessman, was quick to deny the allegations of ritual killing made against her husband.

She went on to describe the billionaire as a patriotic Nigerian and not an evildoer.

Despite Iyabo’s explanation, the question most Nigerians have continued to ask is: If indeed the student had not been killed for ritual purposes, why did Adedoyin, his son and his employees hurriedly bury him without making any attempt to inform the police?

Ritual killing or not, Rahmon Adedoyin was quite popular for his philanthropic gestures as the Maye of Yorubaland.

In the wake of the May 30 judgement, FIJ uncovered House of Maye, a Facebook page dedicated to showcasing Adedoyin’s acts of philanthropy as the Maye of Yorubaland.

Below are the donations the billionaire made between July and September, 2021, and publicised by the page.

N50,000 DONATION TO BOOK AUTHOR

On July 5, 2021, the page posted how Adedoyin gifted a cheque of N50,000 to a book author to support a book launch.

“Today, Africa’s most valued educationist and philanthropist HRE Maye Dr Ramon Adedoyin gifted a cheque gift of N50,000 to (author’s name omitted) for his book launch,” read the post.

“Someone out there is waiting for you for a lifetime [sic]. You cannot afford to fail them; failing them is failing God.”

N500,000 DONATION TO REALITY TV SHOW

In the same month, Adedoyin also donated N500,000 to organisers of a reality TV show in Osun State.

“We at HOUSE OF MAYE OF YORUBALAND are proud to be partner [sic]and co-sponsors of the upcoming beauty pageant show that is promoting our culture and heritage in Nigeria at large [sic],” the post read.

“From our chairman, Africa’s most valued educationist and philanthropist HRE Maye Dr Ramon Adedoyin support the upcoming rebirth edition with the sum of 500k naira