Death row inmate Elijah Oyebode has become a TikTok celebrity after allegedly livestreaming from the Ibara Custodial Centre in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he built a large following and received cash gifts from users.
Premium Times reported that Oyebode, who was sentenced to death by hanging in 2019 for the murder of Osun State University final-year student Rofiat Adebisi, operated at least two TikTok accounts while in custody.
According to the report, one of the accounts reached TikTok’s Level 20 gifting status, indicating significant financial activity, while Oyebode regularly interacted with thousands of viewers during livestreams.
The report also alleged that Oyebode used one of the accounts to impersonate a TikTok activist before changing the account’s details after he was confronted.
Premium Times further reported that during one of his livestreams, Oyebode claimed many inmates had access to smartphones and internet services inside the custodial centre.
He also alleged that some correctional officers facilitated the smuggling of mobile phones into the prison in exchange for money and that inmates often paid to retrieve confiscated devices.
Oyebode was convicted by the Osun State High Court over the 2016 murder of Adebisi after the court found that he lured the student into his vehicle before killing her. He has remained on death row since the judgment.
