A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has delivered a landmark judgment in the gruesome murder case of Hafsoh Lawal, a final-year student of the College of Education, Ilorin, who was killed in cold blood earlier this year. The court on Thursday sentenced the prime suspect, Abdulrahman Bello, to death by hanging.
In a ruling that brought a measure of justice to the victim’s family, Justice Hannah Ajayi described the act as “cruel, wicked, and an extreme display of human wickedness.” She found that all evidence clearly pointed to the fact that Hafsoh was lured, murdered, and dismembered by her alleged lover for ritual purposes and trade in human parts.
However, in a dramatic turn, the court acquitted four other individuals earlier charged alongside Bello. Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Jamiu Uthman, Suleiman Muyideen, and Abdulrahman Jamiu were cleared of all five counts in the charge sheet and discharged for lack of evidence linking them to the crime.
Justice Ajayi dismissed Bello’s claim that he loved the victim and intended to marry her, labeling it a deceptive ploy to lure Hafsoh into his apartment, where the heinous crime occurred.
The offence was committed on February 10, 2025, at Olunlade area of Ilorin, where Hafsoh was invited by Bello. After engaging in sexual relations with her, Bello went on to kill and mutilate her body. Investigations led to the shocking discovery of her severed palm, a bottle of blood, and her personal belongings inside Bello’s room. A bloodstained cutlass used for the act was also recovered from the scene.
The rest of Hafsoh’s dismembered and decomposed body was later found dumped at a nearby refuse site in Ilorin.
While the victim’s family and the wider community continue to mourn the loss of a promising young woman, the court’s decision has been widely seen as a step toward ensuring that justice prevails.
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