Death row inmate runs TikTok, businesses from Nigerian prison

The grey concrete walls of Ibara prison in Abeokuta, Nigeria, are meant to signify absolute confinement. Yet, Elijah Oyebode, a man on death row for a brutal ritual murder, has found a way to broadcast his life beyond those walls through TikTok. Oyebode was convicted in 2019 for his role in the 2016 murder of Rofiat Adebisi, a final-year university student.

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His name is Elijah Oyebode; He is on death row.

Court documents reveal a disturbing case where Oyebode, after picking up Adebisi, took her to be murdered for rituals. His accounts of the events varied wildly, from a claim of consensual sex followed by her death to a confession of hypnotizing and raping her at a herbalist's shrine before helping to dispose of her body. The court ultimately found him responsible, citing medical evidence of suffocation and strangulation.

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Mr Oyebode conspired to kill Rofiat Adebisi, a final-year student of Osun State University’s Ipetu Ijesha campus.

Despite his conviction and death sentence, Oyebode has cultivated a significant online presence. He maintains at least two active TikTok accounts, one of which has reached a high gifting status, indicating substantial financial transactions. Through livestreams, he interacts with thousands of viewers in real-time, receiving monetary gifts and engaging with people outside the prison. This digital escape highlights a severe lapse in security and raises critical questions about how inmates can access and operate social media platforms from within correctional facilities.

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In its judgment, the court held that medical evidence showed Ms Adebisi died from cardiac arrest caused by suffocation through strangulation.