Court sentences killer of Hafsoh Lawal, Kwara final-year student to death by hanging

Justice Hannah Ajayi of the Kwara State High court Ilorin has delivered judgement, sentencing Abdulrahman Bello, the killer of Hafsoh Lawal, the final year student of the Kwara State College of Education to death by hanging.

In a judgement delivered on Thursday, Justice Ajayi also set free four other defendants and cleared them of any wrongdoings.

‎Charged with five count, 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.

However, Justice Ajayi, while delivering judgment on the main culprit, described Bello’s act as cruel, wicked, and an extreme display of human wickedness, saying 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.

‎The offence was said to have been committed on February 10, 2025, at Olunlade area Ilorin. The victim was said to have been invited by her boyfriend Abdulrahman Bello, who killed and dismembered her body in his room after having sex with her.

‎Upon being arrested and interrogated, the palm of the deceased and, a bottle filled with blood and personal belongings of the dead were found Bello’s 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.