The Kwara State High Court, Ilorin, has sentenced Abdulrahman Bello to death by hanging for killing Hafsoh Lawal, a final-year student of the College of Education, Ilorin.
This was according to the ruling delivered on Thursday, July 31, 2025, by Justice Hannah Ajayi.
The judge, however, set free four other defendants and cleared them of any wrongdoing.
Charged with five counts, the judge started by exonerating the four out of the five defendants, namely Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Jamiu Uthman, Suleiman Muyideen, and Abdulrahman Jamiu, of any complicity and therefore set them free of taking part in the death of the victim Hafsoh Lawal.
Delivering judgment on the main culprit, Abdulrahman Bello, Justice Hannah Ahayi described the killing of Hafsoh as cruel, wicked, and an extreme display of human wickedness.
She said 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, the judge noted, are all concocted lies to lure her to his residence in order to kill her.
She therefore sentenced Abdulrahman Bello to death by hanging while setting free the other four suspects not guilty.
What you should know
On February 10, 2025, Yetunde had left a naming ceremony after getting a phone call. That call would be her last.
Her father, Mr. Adefalu Lawal, reported her missing to the police after a day-long search proved futile. Police investigators later traced Hafsoh’s last phone communications to Abdulrahman Bello.
The prosecution, represented by a senior police officer serving as the second prosecution witness, revealed in court that on February 10, 2025, Adefalu Lawal had approached the ‘Oja Oba’ Police Division in Ilorin to report his missing daughter, Hafsoh Lawal, who had left home and never returned.
Investigations led them to Abdulrahman, as he was the last person to contact Hafsoh before her disappearance.
On February 14, officers arrested Abdulrahman Bello in the Isale Koto area of Ilorin. During interrogation, he led police to his residence on February 15, where the palm of the deceased and a bottle filled with blood and personal belongings of the dead were found in his room.
Also found in his room was a cutlass used in dismembering the deceased’s body. Other parts of her decomposed body were later found at a nearby dumpsite in Ilorin.
The court found Abdulrahman guilty of the heinous crimes, bringing a measure of justice for Hafsoh and her grieving family.