An Islamic cleric, Abdulrahman Mohad (also known as Mohammed A. Bello), has been sentenced to death by a Kwara State High Court in Ilorin for the ritual murder of Lawal Hafsoh Yetunde, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education.
Justice Hannah Ajayi delivered the verdict on Thursday, finding Mohad guilty of the gruesome crime committed on February 10, 2025. According to court proceedings, Hafsoh mysteriously disappeared after receiving a phone call while attending a naming ceremony. Her disappearance was reported to the police by her family the next day after an unsuccessful search.
Investigations led police to trace the last call on Hafsoh’s phone to Mohad, who was arrested in the Offa Garage area of Ilorin. Further investigation revealed disturbing details, including confessions that she was murdered for ritual purposes.
Police stated in the First Information Report (FIR) that Mohad and four other suspects belonged to the same occult group and allegedly participated in the killing. However, Mohad, in a video obtained by SaharaReporters, took sole responsibility for the crime, declaring, “I am the only one that killed her. These other people were not there.”
Following the trial, Justice Ajayi acquitted and discharged the four other defendants—Ahmed Abulwasiu (41), an Islamic scholar from Adualere; Sulaiman Muhydeen (28), a business operator from Amilegbe; Jamiu Uthman (29), a phone repairer also from Adualere; and AbdulRahman Jamiu (31), a farmer from Elemere, Malete—citing the prosecution’s failure to establish their involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
The court’s ruling brings a significant chapter to a case that has deeply unsettled the Ilorin community and raised fresh concerns over ritual killings in Nigeria.
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