Court sentences Kwara Islamic cleric to death for killing Facebook lover

A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, the state capital, has sentenced Abdulrahman Bello to death by hanging for the murder of 24-year-old Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin.

Delivering judgment on Thursday after four months of trial, Justice Hannah Ajayi found Bello guilty of killing the victim, who was reportedly his Facebook lover.

The court, however, discharged and acquitted four co-defendants: Ahmed Abdulwasiu (41), Suleiman Muyideen (28), Jamiu Uthman (29), and Abdulrahmon Jamiu (31), who were initially arraigned alongside Bello.

Bello had confessed at the beginning of the trial to killing Lawal for money rituals, claiming he needed human hands for the purpose.

He identified himself as an Islamic cleric and admitted to carrying out the act alone.

According to testimonies, the incident occurred on February 13, 2025.

Lawal had gone to attend a friend’s naming ceremony when Bello invited her to his residence around the Offa garage area of Ilorin.

During the trial, Bello gave conflicting accounts of the events, initially saying he choked her to death after multiple rounds of sex before dismembering her body.

At another point, he claimed she died of an asthma attack and that he dismembered the body out of fear.