…Four others discharged and acquitted after four-month trial
After a four-month-long trial, the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Thursday, July 31, 2025, sentenced Abdulrahman Bello to death by hanging for the gruesome murder of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a 24-year-old final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin.
Presiding judge, Justice Hannah Olushola Ajayi, delivered the judgment at the court premises in Ilorin, convicting Bello, who had earlier confessed to the killing, while acquitting and discharging four co-accused persons namely, Ahmed Abdulwasiu (41), Suleiman Muyideen (28), Jamiu Uthman (29), and Abdulrahmon Jamiu (31) for lack of evidence linking them to the crime.
The tragic incident occurred on February 13, 2025, when the victim, Hafsoh Lawal, reportedly left to attend a friend’s naming ceremony before she was lured to Bello’s residence around the Offa Garage area in Ilorin.
During the trial, Bello, who identified himself as an Islamic cleric, admitted to luring Hafsoh with whom he had developed a relationship via Facebook under the pretense of a meeting. He revealed to the court that after several rounds of sex, he strangled her to death and dismembered her body, claiming he needed human body parts for a money ritual.
In his conflicting testimonies during the proceedings, Bello initially confessed that he choked Hafsoh to death in order to harvest her body parts for ritual purposes. At another point, he claimed she died from an asthma attack after their sexual encounter and that he panicked and mutilated her body in fear.
Despite his shifting narratives, Bello repeatedly expressed regret over the killing, stating that had he known another way to source the “required ingredients” for his rituals, he would not have taken a life.
His chilling confession led to widespread public outrage, especially among student bodies and women’s rights groups, who demanded swift justice.
Justice Ajayi, in her ruling, described Bello’s actions as “deliberate, inhumane, and deeply disturbing,” affirming that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
With the sentence now passed, Bello will face the ultimate penalty under Nigerian criminal law death by hanging.
