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Islamic cleric accused of killing girlfriend knows fate today
Justice Halimat Ajayi of the Kwara State High Court is set to deliver judgement today in the high-profile murder case involving an Islamic cleric, Abdulrahman Bello, accused of killing and dismembering his lover, Hafsoh Lawal, also known as Yetunde, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin.
The case, which has gripped the state since it first came to light in 2024, has created outrage and calls for justice, especially from student groups and community leaders.
Bello is standing trial alongside four others: Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhyideen, Jamiu Uthman, and Abdulrahman Jamiu. The charges against them include criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, unlawful possession of human parts, armed robbery, and dealing in human parts.
According to police investigations, Hafsoh was invited to Bello’s residence in the Olunlade area of Ilorin, where she was allegedly raped, killed, and her body mutilated. A search of Bello’s apartment turned up deeply disturbing items including severed human palms, a blood-filled container, black soap, waist beads, a cutlass, a knife, and various charms pointing to possible ritual elements.
In his initial confession to the police and a magistrate court, Bello admitted that Hafsoh died in his apartment and claimed he panicked, cut up her body, and dumped the parts in a dustbin. But during the trial at the High Court, he retracted that confession, claiming it was extracted under torture.
While testifying in court on June 12, Bello alleged that Hafsoh died from an asthma attack during sex. “She started gasping for breath. I rushed out to get her inhaler. When I returned, she was dead. I left to drink alcohol, and when I came back, I cut her body into parts,” he said.
He admitted to using the cutlass and knife recovered from his home but denied any links to money rituals despite the police finding body parts soaked in alcohol and other ritualistic items in his room. Bello also confessed he never called the police or sought medical help. “I was afraid of her father,” he told the court.
He emotionally told the judge that he loved Hafsoh and credited her for pushing him to further his education. “She encouraged me to take the 2024 NABTEB exam and register for JAMB,” he said.
In his defence, Bello claimed his video confession was made under duress, alleging the police beat him and forced him to say he poisoned Hafsoh and strangled her.
His four co-defendants also denied any involvement in the crime during their separate testimonies.
Due to the public outcry and demands from traditional and religious leaders, including the Emir of Ilorin, the Kwara State Government stepped in and elevated the matter to the High Court for prosecution.
Speaking after the final arguments were presented earlier this month, prosecution counsel Ahmed Folorunsho praised the speed and thoroughness of the proceedings. “In over two decades of legal practice, this is one of the swiftest trials I’ve seen,” he said, commending Justice Ajayi’s diligence.
The five defendants remain behind bars at the Oke-Kura Correctional Centre in Ilorin.
Thursday’s judgement is expected to bring long-awaited closure to Hafsoh’s grieving family and a public that has watched the trial unfold with deep interest and anger..
Japa on reverse lane as the United States Department of Homeland Security, DHS, has updated its list of Nigerians facing removal from the country, reducing the number to 112 and publishing their names and photographs online.
The latest list features Nigerians from different parts of the country and was published through the DHS official website.
Among those listed are Cletus Onyali, Olaolu Alabi, Marcus Unigwe, Mkpouto Etukudoh, Blessing Uchanma, Olaniyi Ojikutu, Richard Ugbah, Oluwamuyiwa Olawoye, Anthony Asanya and Ebele Agbasiele
Others identified on the list include Izuchukwu Okoye, Olufemi Olufisayo Olutiola, Abiemwense Obanor, Chibuzo Nwaonu, Oluchi Jennifer Chimdimma Chime, Ifeanyi Okoro, Oluwaseun Kassim, Quazeem Adeyinka and Talatu Dada.
The complete list contains 112 names, with the photographs and details of the other individuals available through the DHS online portal.
The publication comes amid stepped-up immigration enforcement by the US government, particularly involving undocumented immigrants and individuals with outstanding removal orders.
It also comes against the backdrop of efforts by US authorities to obtain increased cooperation from foreign governments in receiving their nationals who have been ordered to leave the United States.
Nigeria has previously faced pressure from the US over the repatriation of its nationals subject to deportation.
The updated publication provides public access to the identities and photographs of the Nigerians currently identified by DHS for removal from the United States.
The Department of State Services, DSS, on Thursday re-arraigned five men accused of complicity in the May 15 kidnap of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State and the subsequent killing of two of the victims.
They were arraigned on a seven-count amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026, filed by the DSS on behalf of the Federal Government.
The defendants, accused of being members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group, are Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa); and Shamsu Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).
All five defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them by the Registrar of the court.
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who led the DSS legal team, applied for the immediate trial of the defendants in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
He also applied for the names of witnesses lined up to testify in the trial to be shielded and for them to be permitted to wear masks to ensure their protection.
Following no objection from counsel to the defendants, Bala Dakum, Justice Salim Ibrahim granted the request of the DSS counsel.
At the time of filing this report, arrangements for the full-scale trial were being put in place.
LAGOS — A post-mortem examination conducted by the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has confirmed that 20-year-old journalist Pelumi Onifade died from a penetrating firearm injury to the abdomen.
The finding is contained in a six-page autopsy report dated July 30, 2026, and submitted to the Lagos State Coroner’s Court investigating the circumstances surrounding the young journalist’s death during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
According to the report, Onifade died from massive haemoperitoneum, a severe accumulation of blood in the abdominal cavity, caused by a high-velocity projectile that penetrated his abdomen.
The forensic finding provides medical evidence establishing a gunshot injury as the cause of death, while the circumstances surrounding who fired the shot and the events that followed remain matters before the coroner’s proceedings.
How Onifade Died
Onifade was a 200-level History student of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) and worked as an intern reporter with Gboah TV, a Lagos-based online news platform.
On October 24, 2020, during the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality, he was assigned to cover an attempted looting at a government palliative storage facility in the Abattoir area of Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos.
According to accounts presented by his family and colleagues, Onifade was wearing a press jacket and carrying reporting equipment when officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force opened fire while attempting to disperse the crowd.
He was reportedly struck by a bullet and subsequently taken away in a police van, commonly referred to as a Black Maria.
A colleague who was with him at the scene reportedly attempted to identify him as a journalist and explain that he was carrying camera equipment, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
Onifade was not seen alive again after that incident.
Family Searched Police Stations, Hospitals
Following his disappearance, his family and colleagues searched police stations, detention facilities and hospitals across Lagos in an attempt to establish his whereabouts.
According to the family, police authorities denied having him in custody.
Six days later, on October 30, 2020, the family located his body at the mortuary of Ikorodu General Hospital, where it had been registered as a “brought-in-dead” case under body number 1385.
The discovery triggered years of demands for an independent investigation into how the young journalist died and how his remains ended up in the mortuary.
DNA Test Identified the Body
The identity of the body was subsequently confirmed through forensic DNA testing.
Results from the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre established a match between the unidentified body bearing tag number 1385 and reference samples obtained from Onifade’s parents.
The DNA confirmation provided a crucial breakthrough after years of uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts and identity of the missing journalist.
Court Ordered Coroner’s Inquest
The search for accountability later moved into the courts.
In July 2024, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Lagos State Government and the police to conduct a coroner’s inquest into Onifade’s death.
The objective of the inquest is to establish the circumstances surrounding his death and determine the facts surrounding the actions of the security personnel involved.
The ongoing proceedings before the Lagos State Coroner’s Court are being presided over by Magistrate Temitope Oladele.
Following the submission of the post-mortem report, the court has directed key witnesses, including police personnel who were on duty in the Oko-Oba area on October 24, 2020, to appear and testify.
Rights Groups Demand Accountability
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which has supported the Onifade family in its legal efforts, has described the post-mortem findings as significant evidence in the case.
Rights activists, journalist unions, and the deceased’s family continue to demand the public prosecution of the police officers who fired the shot and those who supervised the deployment during the Lagos #EndSARS demonstrations.
Japa on reverse lane as US releases names, photos of 112 Nigerians on deportation list
Oyo kidnap: Five defendants plead not guilty to seven count charges
Autopsy Confirms #EndSARS Journalist Pelumi Onifade Died From Gunshot Wound
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