Kwara High Court Orders Release Of Murdered Student’s Remains For Islamic Burial

A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has ordered the release of the remains of Hafsoh Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, who was brutally murdered.

Naijaonpoint reports that the remains are to be handed over to her family for burial according to Islamic rites.

Justice Hannah Ajayi, presiding over the murder case, granted the order on Monday following a request by the family of the deceased.

The family had asked the court to release the dismembered body of Hafsoh Lawal for a proper Islamic burial. At the resumed hearing, Kwara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Sulyman, who leads the prosecution team in the case, applied for the release of the body.

“I want to apply and pray the court to humbly order the release of the remains of Hafsoh Lawal, who was murdered in cold blood by the defendants, for proper burial as a Muslim so that her soul will have rest,” Sulyman stated in his application.

The defence counsel, Chukwudi Maduka, representing the first defendant, Abdulrahman Bello, expressed sympathy for the family and raised no objections to the request, saying, “I sympathise with the family of the deceased who lost their beloved daughter. I don’t have any objection to the request made by the Honourable Attorney General despite the ongoing prosecution of the case.”

Justice Ajayi, therefore, ordered that the Kwara State Police Command release the dismembered body of Hafsoh to her parents for burial in accordance with Islamic rites.

Bello, along with four other defendants, Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhydeen, Jamiu Uthman, and AbdulRahman Jamiu are standing trial for the conspiracy and murder of Hafsoh.

The other four defendants are charged with criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, and illegal possession of human parts. Abdulrahman Bello, the prime suspect, faces an additional charge of raping the deceased.

At the resumed hearing on Monday, three additional witnesses, including two police officers and an anatomic pathologist from the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Olaleke Folaranmi, testified before the court.

Key police witnesses, including officers from the Police ‘C’ Division, Oja Oba, Ilorin, and the State Criminal Investigation Department, provided significant evidence.

The officers testified that the prime suspect, Abdulrahman Bello, orally confessed to the crime and led investigators to his apartment, where parts of Hafsoh’s dismembered body were discovered.

The body parts were later recovered from a dumpsite at the Olunlade area of Ilorin and the Okolowo–Eyenkorin Expressway.

A video showing the discovery of the dismembered body parts inside Bello’s apartment was also played in court and admitted as evidence, despite objections from the defense counsel, who argued that it did not comply with the state’s criminal justice law.

During the hearing, a police officer, Sergeant Moses, testified that Hafsoh’s father had reported her missing on February 11, 2025. Abdulrahman Bello was arrested after phone records showed he was the last person to contact her.

A pathologist from the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Olaleke Folaranmi, confirmed through a postmortem that the remains found were human parts. His report was admitted as Exhibit P17.

Justice Hannah Ajayi denied bail to the defendants, stating that granting bail would be a distraction in the serious murder case.

“This case is a murder case, and it is a serious crime. Granting bail to the defendants will be a distraction to the hearing of the case. But I promise to give accelerated hearing to the case,” Justice Ajayi said.

Justice Ajayi adjourned the case until May 21, 2025, for the continuation of the hearing.