22nd May, 2025
A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has fixed June 4 for the continuation of the murder trial involving AbdulRahman Bello and four others accused of killing Hafsoh Lawal, a student of the Kwara State College of Education.
At the resumed hearing, one of the prosecution witnesses, Police Inspector Ayodele Azeez, gave a detailed account of how the prime suspect, AbdulRahman Bello, confessed to the gruesome crime. His testimony was supported by a written statement and a recorded video confession, both of which were admitted by the court as exhibits.
In the recorded footage, played before Justice Hannah Ajayi, AbdulRahman openly admitted to killing Hafsoh Lawal but denied that the other four defendants were involved. “He confessed in the video but said he acted alone,” Inspector Azeez told the court.
The police officer also explained the rationale behind the arrest of the other suspects, citing frequent phone communications between them and AbdulRahman around the time of the incident. One of the suspects, he noted, was the first person AbdulRahman contacted after committing the alleged crime.
However, under cross-examination, counsel to the first defendant, Abdulrazaq Daibu, raised objections to the admissibility of the video confession, alleging that his client had been tortured during interrogation. Responding to further inquiries, Inspector Azeez admitted that no incriminating evidence was found in the possession of the other suspects or at their residences.
So far, ten witnesses have testified in the ongoing trial, which has gripped public attention due to the sensitive and tragic nature of the case.
The accused face charges of conspiracy, culpable homicide, and unlawful possession of human parts, while AbdulRahman Bello is also facing an additional charge of rape before the alleged murder.
