By Our Correspondent
National News – The parents of a Nigerian student convicted of robbery and blackmail in the United Kingdom have appealed for a review of the court’s verdict, insisting their son was wrongly convicted and is innocent of all charges.
Mr. Aderinkola Akinrinola and Mrs. Olayinka Akinrinola made the appeal in a statement issued in Ibadan, Oyo State, following the conviction of their son, Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola, by a UK court on June 19, 2026. He is currently being held in a prison in Nottingham ahead of his sentencing, scheduled for July 27.
According to the parents, the conviction was based mainly on circumstantial evidence and their son’s association with the principal suspect. They explained that Oluwatobiloba met the alleged prime suspect, Richile Vagnu, shortly after enrolling as a first-year student at Leicester University in September 2025, describing their relationship as that of casual acquaintances.
They maintained that although their son attended the party where the robbery occurred, he was not involved in the crime. According to them, several victims testified in court that Oluwatobiloba neither participated in the robbery nor took any property. They claimed he briefly entered the room where the incident occurred, questioned what was happening and left after stating he did not want to be involved.
The parents also argued that police investigations found evidence of money transfers from victims to accounts linked to other suspects but uncovered no such transactions in their son’s bank records. They further alleged that CCTV footage presented during the trial only showed Oluwatobiloba arriving at the party and did not place him at the scene of the robbery.
They questioned why other suspects identified during investigations were not produced in court, alleging that some failed to honour police invitations despite claims that they received money from the victims.
According to the family, one of the victims testified that Oluwatobiloba appeared to be helping those affected rather than participating in the attack. They also said he voluntarily contacted the police after seeing a social media video linking him to the incident and was reportedly informed at the time that he was not considered a suspect.
Describing their son as a law-abiding young man with no previous criminal record, the parents appealed to the UK authorities, legal institutions and human rights organisations to review the case, insisting that justice should be served and that the conviction be reconsidered.
