A wave of horror swept through the Kwara State High Court on Wednesday as Abdulrahman Bello, an Islamic cleric and the main suspect in the brutal murder of final-year student Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, confessed in open court to killing the young woman for ritual purposes.
The dramatic moment unfolded during a hearing presided over by Justice Hannah Olushola Ajayi, where a video recording was tendered as key evidence by the prosecution.
In the footage, Bello admitted to acting alone in the gruesome act, stating that he carried out the killing to harvest human parts for a money ritual.
“If I had another way to get the body parts, I wouldn’t have killed her,” he said in the video, sending chills through the courtroom.
Bello is standing trial alongside several alleged accomplices, though his confession suggested he acted without direct assistance in the actual murder.
Police testimony further unraveled the disturbing case. Inspector Ayodele Azeez of the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) narrated how the murder case was transferred from the Oja-Oba Division on February 14.
Azeez detailed the discovery of grim evidence at Bello’s residence in Olunlade.
“Recovered from his home were an axe, cutlass, various charms, a table, a consultation book, a container filled with blood, a pair of slippers, and the severed hands of the victim,” Azeez told the court.
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According to Azeez, Bello voluntarily gave a detailed statement in the presence of a lawyer provided by the police, having said he could not afford legal representation.
That statement was both handwritten and captured on video, later converted to a compact disk and submitted to the court.
Efforts by the defence counsel, Barrister Agbede, to block the video evidence were overruled by Justice Ajayi, who admitted the disk and ordered it to be played in full view of the court.
The trial also revealed efforts by the police to identify and apprehend Bello’s alleged co-conspirators.
Call records linked the accused to four others believed to be involved in the planning or aftermath of the killing.
“All five suspects are interlinked,” Azeez stated. “The second defendant is Bello’s Islamic teacher, the third is a student of that teacher, while the fourth and fifth defendants are Bello’s close friends.”
The court adjourned at exactly 11:32 a.m. and is expected to resume later in the day for continued proceedings in what has become one of the most disturbing murder trials in recent memory.