The main suspect in the highly publicized murder of a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, Abdulrahman Bello, has admitted before the Kwara State High Court that he dismembered the body of the deceased after consuming alcohol, though he denied responsibility for her death.
Testifying before Justice Hannah Ajayi while opening his defence on Tuesday, Bello recounted in graphic detail how he singlehandedly cut the body of the female student, identified simply as Hafsoh, into parts using a knife and cutlass recovered by police investigators from his two-room apartment located in the Olunlade area of Ilorin, the state capital.
Bello, however, maintained that the dismemberment occurred after the victim had already died. According to him, Hafsoh suffered a fatal asthma attack during sexual intercourse. “I noticed she was gasping because she had asthma. I rushed out to get her inhaler but on returning, I found that she had already passed away,” Bello told the court. Overcome with fear and panic, he said, he resorted to drinking alcohol before returning to mutilate the deceased’s body.
The suspect emphasized that none of his co-defendants were involved in the dismemberment or death of the victim, effectively attempting to exonerate them from complicity in the crime. His admission directly challenges earlier confessions reportedly made during police interrogation, portions of which were presented as video evidence by the prosecution.
During a rigorous cross-examination conducted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Bello further admitted that he did not inform any of his neighbours about the incident, nor did he alert the police or seek medical attention for the victim. “I did not report the matter because I was afraid of her father,” he said, citing fear and confusion as his reasons for failing to seek help or involve the authorities.
In response to accusations that parts of the victim’s body were preserved for ritual purposes, Bello vehemently denied any such motive. He claimed that earlier statements where he purportedly confessed to poisoning Hafsoh’s food and strangling her were extracted under duress during police interrogation. “I was tortured by the police to say in the video that I poisoned her food and strangled her,” he alleged, raising serious questions about the integrity of the initial confession.
Following the conclusion of his testimony, the defence counsel jointly requested seven days to prepare and file their written addresses. The prosecution, led by the DPP, requested an additional ten days to file its final submissions after receiving the defence’s briefs. Justice Ajayi granted both requests and adjourned the matter to July 2, 2025, for the final adoption of written addresses.
