The Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin has upheld the death sentence of self-acclaimed Islamic cleric, Abdulrahman Bello.
The Appellate Court’s decision is coming more than a year after the murder of 24-year-old final-year student, Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal.
A student of Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, Lawal was murdered on February 10, 2025, in the Olunlade area of Ilorin.
The Court of Appeal, in its unanimous judgment delivered by a three-man panel led by Justice Gabriel Omoniyi Kolawole, threw out Bello’s appeal and ruled that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he murdered Lawal and unlawfully possessed her body parts.
The upper court confirmed the July 2025 judgment of the Kwara State High Court, which sentenced Bello to death by hanging for murder and an additional 10 years' imprisonment for unlawful possession of human parts.
The trial judge, according to the Court of Appeal, properly evaluated all evidence before the court and there was no basis to interfere with the conviction and sentence.
It would be recalled that Bello was arraigned together with four others, namely: Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhydeen, Jamiu Uthman and Abdulrahman Jamiu, on charges bordering on conspiracy, murder, unlawful removal and possession of human parts and blood. He alone was also charged with rape.
The court, which acquitted the cleric of rape, found him guilty of murdering and dismembering the victim. The co-defendants were discharged and acquitted after the prosecution failed to establish their involvement.
While the trial lasted, the prosecution tendered both video and written confessional statements made by Bello to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Police.
His claim that the confessions were obtained under torture was rejected by the courts, just as the courts held that they were voluntarily made.
The lower court, presided over by Justice Hannah Ajayi, had described the killing as the highest degree of human wickedness and a premeditated and cold-blooded act, dismissing Bello’s claim that he loved the deceased and intended to marry her as an afterthought.
The judge equally declared that Bello’s conduct before arrest and the recovery of a book on money-making charms from his residence further strengthened the prosecution’s case.
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