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

Delivering judgment on Thursday after a four-month trial, Justice Hannah Ajayi found Bello guilty of killing Lawal described in court as his reported Facebook lover for ritual purposes. The court dismissed charges against four co-accused: Ahmed Abdulwasiu (41), Suleiman Muhydeen (28), Jamiu Uthman (29), and Abdulrahman Jamiu (31), discharging them due to insufficient evidence.

Bello, who identified himself as an Islamic cleric, confessed to acting alone in the February 2025 killing. He admitted to dismembering Lawal's body and preserving her hands for "money rituals", stating: "I needed human hands to achieve wealth."

Justice Ajayi condemned the premeditated nature of the crime, noting: "This barbaric act, disguised as religious practice, warrants the ultimate penalty to deter such atrocities against women and students."

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.