A Kwara State High Court has sentenced an Islamic cleric, Abdulrahman Mohad, to death by hanging for the ritual murder of a final-year student, Lawal Hafsoh Yetunde.
Justice Hannah Ajayi delivered the judgment on Thursday morning in Ilorin, the state capital.
Hafsoh was a student of the Kwara State College of Education. She went missing on February 10, 2025, after receiving a phone call while attending a naming ceremony. Her disappearance sparked a frantic search by her family and friends before they reported the case to the Oja Oba Police Station.
Police investigations later traced Hafsoh’s last phone call to Abdulrahman Mohad (also known as Mohammed A. Bello), leading to his arrest.
In a video confession, Mohad admitted to the killing and said he acted alone.
“I am the only one that killed her. These other people were not there,” he said.
The police, in their First Information Report (FIR), claimed the suspects belonged to an occult group and confessed to robbing and killing Hafsoh for ritual purposes.
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However, the court freed four other men who were arrested with Mohad due to lack of evidence. They include:
- Ahmed Abulwasiu, a 41-year-old Islamic scholar from Adualere, Ilorin
- Sulaiman Muhydeen, a 28-year-old businessman from Amilegbe, Ilorin
- Jamiu Uthman, a 29-year-old phone repairer from Adualere, Ilorin
- AbdulRahman Jamiu, a 31-year-old farmer from Elemere, Malete
The court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove their involvement or conspiracy in the crime.
Justice Ajayi said that while the evidence clearly showed Mohad committed the murder, it was not strong enough to link the other four men to the act.
With the judgment, Mohad now faces the death penalty, while the other accused have regained their freedom.