The Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has upheld the death sentence imposed on Islamic cleric, Abdulrahman Bello, for the murder of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a student of the Kwara State College of Education.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Gabriel Omoniyi Kolawole, dismissed Bello’s appeal and affirmed the judgment of the trial court.
The court held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Bello murdered Lawal and was also guilty of unlawful possession of human parts.
In its judgment, the Court of Appeal ruled that the trial court properly evaluated the evidence presented before it and reached the correct conclusion.
The appellate court held that there was no basis to interfere with either the conviction or the sentence imposed by the lower court.
“The appeal lacks merit,” the court held, affirming Bello’s conviction and the sentence of death by hanging earlier handed down by the trial court.
Bello was convicted over the gruesome killing of Lawal, who was reportedly his girlfriend, in 2025.
The prosecution had alleged that Bello murdered the student, dismembered her body and kept parts of her remains for suspected ritual purposes.
The prosecution team was led by the Attorney-General of Kwara State, Ibrahim Sulyman, alongside Chief State Counsel, Issa Zakari, and Assistant Chief State Counsel, B. L. Abdulsalam, of the Kwara State Ministry of Justice.
Lawal was said to have disappeared on February 10, 2025, after attending a naming ceremony.
According to reports, she had received a phone call while at the ceremony, left her food to answer the call and did not return.
Her family members and friends later searched for her without success before reporting her disappearance to the police at the Oja Oba Police Station in Ilorin the following day.
Police investigators reportedly used her phone records to trace her last call to Bello, who lived in the Offa Garage area of Ilorin.
However, a search of his residence allegedly led to the discovery of Lawal’s dismembered body in a bowl, along with tools suspected to have been used in the act.
However, a search of his residence allegedly led to the discovery of Lawal’s dismembered body in a bowl, along with tools suspected to have been used in the act.
Bello reportedly claimed that Lawal died from an asthma attack after visiting his residence.
The prosecution, however, relied on the evidence recovered from the scene to establish its case against him.
With the decision of the Court of Appeal, the death sentence earlier imposed on Bello by the trial court remains in force.