A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced Abdulrahman Bello to death by hanging for the brutal murder of Hafsoh Lawal, a final-year student of the College of Education, Ilorin.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Hannah Ajayi described the killing as “cruel, wicked, and an extreme display of human wickedness,” ruling that Bello murdered the young woman with the intent of using her for ritual purposes and illegal trade in human body parts.
The court, however, acquitted four other defendants — Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Jamiu Uthman, Suleiman Muyideen, and Abdulrahman Jamiu — of all charges, stating that the prosecution failed to link them to the crime.
Justice Ajayi said Bello lured Lawal to his residence in the Olunlade area of Ilorin on February 10, 2025, under the guise of a romantic relationship, where he killed and dismembered her after having sex with her.
Police investigations revealed disturbing evidence, including the victim’s severed palm, a bottle filled with blood, her personal belongings, and the cutlass used in the killing — all found in Bello’s room. Other parts of Lawal’s decomposed body were later recovered from a nearby dumpsite.
The court’s ruling brings a measure of closure to a case that has shocked the Kwara State community and sparked widespread calls for justice.
