I strangled Hafsoh to death during sex and during the night, I bought alchocolic drink which I drank before commencing the dismembering operation of her parts. When I finished pieceing her body part, I took the head and intestine out to dispose them —   Prime Suspect, Abdulrahman Gives Chilling Account At Resumed Hearing 

By Omowumi Omotosho

The murder trial of Abdulrahman Bello, the primary suspect in the killing of 24-year-old Hafsoh Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, continued on Wednesday. Bello, alongside his alleged accomplices, was brought into Courtroom 4 of the Kwara State High Court, Ilorin, in handcuffs under the watch of armed officers from the Nigerian Correctional Service.

Presiding over the case, Justice Hannah Olushola Ajayi listened as the prosecution, led by the Kwara State Director of Public Prosecution, Barrister Ayoola Akande, led two witnesses, an investigating officer from the Department of State Security Service and a human rights activist before the court.

With appearance of two witnesses on Wednesday, the procesuting Council have presented 12 witnesses as the court sat for the 4th time.

A recorded video obtained from the Department of State Services (DSS) was played in the courtroom, in which Bello detailed how security operatives tracked and apprehended him.

In the footage, Abdulrahman confessed to the DSS saying ” I strangled Hafsoh to death during sex and during the night, I bought alchocolic drink which I drank before commencing the dismembering operation of her parts.

“When I finished pieceing her body part, I took the head and intestine out to dispose them.”

As the courtroom watched the video, Abdulrahman Bello remained expressionless, leaning on the witness box with his hands pressed to his cheeks. Meanwhile, the victim’s father, Ibrahim Adefalu, was visibly overwhelmed with emotion as the recording of Abdulrahman’s confession at the DSS office was played.

Testifying before the court, an investigating officer from the Department of State Services (DSS), Ayodeji Joshua revealed that the agency received a formal request from the Kwara State Ministry of Justice on March 10, 2025. The letter sought the DSS’s assistance in deepening the investigation into the suspected murder of Yetunde Lawal, allegedly committed by Abdulrahman Bello.

He stated that, “Consequently, DPP secured a court order for the release of Abdulrahman Bello to our office for further investigation. In the cause of our investigation, based on the request of the Ministry of Justice, we were requested to investigate his financial records, social media account and his call log.

“While doing that, we requested for his calls register history from the service provider, MTN, where he has two lines, we obtained a court order to obtain his account from OPAY digital service and Know Your Customer, (KYC) as well as his social media account i.e Facebook with the name ABDULRAHMAN BALLO. ”

The investigating officer further stated that; “In the cause of our analysis, we dicovered that suspect called the victim for the first time of March 9th 2025, prior to this time, they have never spoken before and later on the 10th February 2025, they both exchanged conversation about four times between 1pm and 4.30pm.

“On the 11th March 2025, the defendant also made calls to five different persons which include one “Alfa Alagbo” by name Abdulsalam Mohammed and one Iya Asiata and one Hasfat Saliu and Mudashir Musa.

“In the cause of our findings, we discovered that he made the calls to the aforementioned person to source for some herbal materials such as aligator pepper, Epo òbo, Egbo Tube, ewe ajo ale and ewe aje among others.”

Joshua told the court that, “They told us that these materials are part of concortions used by fetish people for rituals. The first defendant called Musa Mudashir to request for a sizable amount of Indian Hemp. He called Musa Mudashiru for that purpose because of his proximity to the people that are selling Indian Hemp.

“The last person thay the first defendant called was Jimoh Mahmud, butcher who worked in the abbattoir. We discovered that he called him to request for Cow’s Brain which he declined his request due to low patronage in the abbattoir. Haven established all these fact, on 8th April 2025, we requested him to write a statement.

In the absence of any family member and lawyer to witness his statement writing, we suggested contacting the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights. We called Dr. Adebowale who witnessed the process.”

The court therefore accepted into evidence a Compact Disc containing the recorded statement-taking session conducted by the Department of State Services (DSS), officially marking it as an exhibit.

The second witness, the vice chairman of Kwara state chapeter of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Dr. Adebowale in his narrative told the court that: ” on 8th day of April, 2025, about 1pm, I got a call from one DSS officer by name Joshua. He told me that he is calling me in request of suspects that were being detained by the DSS.

He said that the suspects were detained concerning the death of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal. That as human right organisation which I represent, that they want me to witness thr statement taking process of the suspects at the DSS office. I obliged and I went straight to the DSS office. On getting there, I met officer Joshua in person and he ushered me into the interrogation room. There and then, the DSS officer made arrangements to bring out all the accused person one after the other and I witness the taking of all the statement.”

For each of the accused persons, the DSS officer, Mr Joshua, told each one of them that they should be mindful of the legal implications of thr statement they are going to give. That whatever they say shall be brought before the court. ”

Equally, I told them that I represented human right organisation and that I have come to see that their rights are fully protected while making their statement. I can affirm the fact that each one of them made voluntary statements. They were not forced and they were not placed under any duress whatsoever. And when each one of them finished making their statement, it was interpreted to them. I being the 3rd person confirmed that they State were written the wy they were made, signed and thumbprinted. I signed also to confirm my endorsement to the statement.”

The court therefore adjourned the case to 11th June, 2025 for further hearing and testimonies of all defendants.