Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Hannah Ajayi convicted Bello of culpable homicide and possession of human parts, describing the killing as “cruel, wicked, and an extreme display of human wickedness.”
By Titilope Adaku
A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced Abdulrahman Bello, a self-proclaimed Islamic cleric, to death by hanging for the murder of Hafsoh Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Hannah Ajayi convicted Bello of culpable homicide and possession of human parts, describing the killing as “cruel, wicked, and an extreme display of human wickedness.”
She ruled that evidence presented before the court proved that Hafsoh was lured to Bello’s residence under the guise of love and marriage, only to be murdered for money ritual and trading in human parts.
“All evidence proved that Hafsoh was killed in order to be used for money ritual and trading in human spare parts. His confession of love and plan to marry her are all concocted lies to lure her to his residence in order to kill her,” the judge said.
Justice Ajayi, however, acquitted four other defendants—Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Jamiu Uthman, Suleiman Muyideen, and Abdulrahman Jamiu—clearing them of any complicity in the crime.
The court heard that the offence was committed on February 10, 2025, at Olunlade area of Ilorin. Bello had invited Hafsoh, his girlfriend, to his residence, where he had sex with her before killing and dismembering her body.
During his arrest, investigators found the deceased’s palm, a bottle filled with blood, and her personal belongings in Bello’s room, along with a cutlass used in dismembering her. Other decomposed body parts were later discovered at a nearby dumpsite in Ilorin.
Justice Ajayi subsequently sentenced Bello to death by hanging.
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