Appeal Court upholds death sentence for Islamic cleric convicted of killing girlfriend for alleged ritual

The Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin 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.

In a judgment delivered by a three-member panel led by Justice Gabriel Omoniyi Kolawole, the appellate court dismissed Bello's appeal, ruling that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he committed the murder and was also guilty of unlawful possession of human body parts.

The court held that the trial court properly evaluated the evidence presented before it and found no reason to overturn either the conviction or the sentence.

"The appeal lacks merit," the court ruled, affirming the sentence of death by hanging.

Bello was convicted over the killing of Lawal, who was reportedly his girlfriend. Prosecutors said he murdered the student, dismembered her body and kept parts of her remains for suspected ritual purposes.

According to the prosecution, Lawal disappeared on February 10, 2025, after leaving a naming ceremony to answer a phone call. When efforts to locate her failed, her family reported her missing to the police.

Investigators traced her last phone call to Bello, who initially denied any involvement in her disappearance.

However, a search of his residence allegedly led to the discovery of Lawal's dismembered body in a bowl, alongside tools suspected to have been used in the crime.

Bello claimed that the deceased died from an asthma attack after visiting his home, but prosecutors argued that the evidence recovered from the scene contradicted his account.

The prosecution was led by the Kwara State Attorney General, Ibrahim Sulyman, alongside other officials from the state Ministry of Justice.