Controversy has continued to trail the circumstance surrounding the sudden death of Senator Isiaka Adeleke on Sunday, April 23, 2017.  Since then, there has been tension in Osun State as some of his supporters claimed he was murdered by those who would not want him to actualise his aspiration to become the governor of the state once again. He was the first civilian governor of Osun State.

As a result of the controversies, the Osun State Government set up a Coroner inquest to investigate the true cause of the death of the senator; hence a post-mortem examination was ordered on his remains before he was buried according to Islamic rites in his house in Ede.

Top personalities in the state, especially those who sat with the late Adeleke at the last public event he attended, have appeared before the Coroner to testify. There have been mindboggling revelations, but the family of the deceased seems not to be happy with the Coroner. They are also unhappy with the manner the outcome of the autopsy was made public during proceedings. 

 Testifying before the Coroner, the deputy governor of Osun State, Mrs Titi-Laoye Tomori, said the late Adeleke ate at the burial ceremony of the late Balqiz Atoke Salimonu, the grandmother of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Amobi Akintola, held at Kuta village. 

“I got to Kuta after 5pm and was received by the late Senator Adeleke. Because of the way he came to receive me, I followed him to the place where he sat.

“A woman later brought a plate of rice, but the deceased didn’t want to eat it initially. He, however, later took three spoons before pushing the food aside. 

“A man also brought a drink, but I can’t really remember the name of the drink. I left him at the party. I was surprised when I heard that he was dead the following day,” she said. 

The deputy governor said the rumour that she was sent to the burial ceremony to poison the late senator was unfounded. “How could that be? It wasn’t my ceremony and I didn’t cook or serve any food. How could people trivialise the death of such an important person? How can they spread such wicked rumour?” she queried. 

Also, the Chief Medical Director of Biket Hospital, Osogbo, Dr. Adebisi Adenle, who testified before the Coroner, said the senator was already dead when they brought him to his hospital.

The Chief Medical Director of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Professor Akeem Lasisi, told the Coroner that the late senator might have died of drug overdose. He explained that when the corpse was brought to the hospital, he asked for his medical history and was told that an individual, who was neither a doctor nor a nurse, injected him with some medicines when he complained of leg pain.

Lasisi said the drugs included 5per cent of dextrose, intravenous fluid glory set, scalp vein needle, 2 ampoules of Analgin, 4 ampoules of 10kg of Diazepam, 1 ampoule of Pentasozine, 1 ampoule of Getamacine and Valium, which when given in excess dosage, could cause reflex collapse and blockage of the respiratory system. He told the Coroner that from the look of things and empty ampoules, the late senator was given those drugs in excess.

“As a medical doctor of 27 years, I have never given 40grams of Diazepam. Analgin is also an outlawed drug. I wonder where that person who injected him got that prescription from,” Lasisi said.

Also, a consultant anatomic pathologist at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Dr Taiwo Sholaja Olufemi, who conducted autopsy on the remains of the late Adeleke, told the Coroner that toxicology reports showed that drug overdose killed the late politician, not poison as speculated.  

The pathologist told the Coroner that there was no trace of poison in the system of the deceased when an autopsy was carried out on his remains.

Olufemi said the autopsy carried out by him and two other pathologists revealed that Sanator Adeleke died of “aspiration of gastric content due to multiple drug overdose.’’ He said the autopsy carried out by him and his team was performed in the presence of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Dugbe in Osogbo and the Chief Medical Director of LAUTECH, Professor Akeem Lasisi. 

The pathologist explained that before the autopsy was carried out, the deceased’s sister, Mrs Modupe Adeleke-Sani, told him that the late senator complained of pains in the kneels, inability to sleep, and that some drugs were administered on him. He said that after examination, it was discovered that he died as a result of the drugs administered on him.

 He said, “Aspiration of the gastric content blocked his airways, depriving his body of oxygen, which was also evident in the bluish discoloration shown on some parts of his body. He added that the side effect of most of the drugs given to the deceased included drowsiness, vomiting and cardiovascular collapse, which resulted to the blockage of his breathing.’’ He said though the deceased was hypertensive, there was no evidence of such from the result of the autopsy. He equally said the police toxicologist report presented to him showed abnormal high level of alcohol, sedative and Analgin in the blood of the deceased. But no trace of poison was found.

The DPO of Dugbe Police Division and officer-in-charge of homicide in the Osun State Police command told the Coroner that the empty bottles of drugs given to the deceased were in the police custody. 

Testifying before the Coroner, a chieftain of the APC in Osun State and member of the Adeleke Support Group,. Olasunkanmi Olaniyi, an engineer, said he had not withdrawn the N100,000 that late senator gave him when he attended his daughter’s wedding ceremony on the eve of the day he died. Olaniyi brought the cheque to the Coroner as proof that he was very close to the senator. He lamented that some people politicised Adeleke’s death and accused him of poisoning the senator because he attended his ceremony.

“The late senator came after 7pm and there was no food at all at that time. The only thing served was meat.  And he didn’t even eat from the meat. It was one of his aides that brought his special brand of drink and personal glass cup for him from his car. 

“I am an active member of the APC and the Adeleke Support Group. I didn’t see any reason people would say he took poison at my party as his death would not do me any benefit. He gave me a cheque of N100,000, which I have not withdrawn. I was very surprised when I heard people say he was poisoned at my party/’’

Meanwhile, the nurse who was alleged to have given the late senator an overdose drug that killed him, Mr Alfred Aderibigbe, said he had been treating him in the last 15 years. 

Testifying before the Coroner, Aderibigbe explained that he only diluted the drugs but didn’t administer all of them on the deceased.

Aderibigbe, who is a chief nursing officer at a comprehensive health centre in Edun Abon in Ife North Local Government Area of the state, admitted that he treated the late senator of gout arthritis. He, however, denied administering all the empty ampoules of injections found in his room.

“On April 23, I was sleeping inside my house about 4 am when I heard some people banging at my gate. When I opened I saw Adeleke’s campaign vehicle and they said he sent for me. When I called I was told to bring his injections. When I got there, I saw him in pains. He asked for his injections and I brought them out.

“On April 17, Senator Adeleke showed me a prescription and the drugs he got from a Lagos doctor. He asked me to keep the drugs but didn’t give me the prescription. 

“When I checked him, his blood pressure was 130/80, temperature 37.4, respiration was 26 beats per minute and pulse was 86. After that, I told him he was okay. He insisted that I gave him all the dosages, but I only gave him Diazepam 20ml, Analgin 50ml and Hydrochloric 200ml.

“I know that alcohol causes gout; that is why I advised the late senator against it. Initially, he took all kinds of drinks, but he later limited it to St. Remy. He used to smoke before I advised him against it too,’’ he said. 

Asked if he knew that Adeleke died of high level of alcohol, sedatives and analgesic, Aderibigbe said, “I know Diazepam doesn’t go well with alcohol, but I didn’t perceive any alcoholic odour around the deceased before treating him.” 

Meanwhile, the outcome of the toxicology test carried out by the police indicated that the late senator was not poisoned. The test was reportedly done by Chief Superintendent of Police Benedict Agbu.
DailyTrust