Appeal Court Affirms De@th Sentence for Islamic Cleric in Lover's M¥rder Case
An appellate court has upheld the death sentence handed to an Islamic cleric convicted of the murder of a woman identified as his lover. The ruling affirms an earlier judgment after the court found no legal basis to overturn the conviction and sentence.
According to the court, the prosecution presented sufficient evidence during the trial to establish the cleric's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The judges dismissed the appeal and ruled that the original verdict should stand.
The case attracted significant public attention due to the identities of those involved and the serious nature of the crime. Legal observers say the decision reinforces the judiciary's commitment to upholding the rule of law in criminal cases.
The convicted cleric still has the option of pursuing any further legal remedies available under the law, depending on the jurisdiction's judicial process.
what really happened??
The case began in February 2025 when 24-year-old Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, visited Abdulrahman Bello, an Islamic cleric she had met on Facebook. She was later reported missing.
Investigators discovered that Bello had killed Lawal at his residence and dismembered her body. During the trial, he gave conflicting explanations, but the court found that the evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that he intentionally murdered her, allegedly with the aim of using parts of her body for ritual purposes. Four other people charged alongside him were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
The Kwara State High Court sentenced Bello to death by hanging. An appellate court has now upheld that judgment, affirming both his conviction and the death sentence.
