Abdulrahman Bello, the suspect accused of murdering Hafsoh Lawal, a final-year student at the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, has confessed in court to killing her for use in money rituals.

During Wednesday's hearing, Bello-who claims to be an Islamic cleric-stated that he acted alone, motivated by the need for human body parts to perform rituals. He expressed remorse, adding: "If I had known another way to obtain the required ingredients, I would not have taken this path."

Inspector Ayodele Azeez of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Kwara State Police Command testified during the proceedings, providing details of the investigation.

The Police Inspector narrated that: "On 14th February 2025, a case of murder and rape was transfered from C Division Oja-Oba to State CID.

"The 1st defendant, Abdulrahman was found with the following exihibits; one axe, cutlass, table, charms, right and left hands of the victim, consultation book, Tecno phone, iPhone, iPhone XR, paint rubber, container with blood, slippers and after the case has been accepted at the state CID, it was later reffered to anti-homicide and anti-robbery sections.

"The case was assigned to some team of Police officers led by ASP Dada Segun who directed me to obtain statement from the suspect and I took him to a conducive environment in a room.

"I asked him which language he preferred to speak and he settled for English and I asked if he had any relative around the police command or any lawyer to witness how his statement would be recorded," the police witness recalled.

He added that: "He said No! I asked if he needed the service of a lawyer and he agreed that I should get him one but he added that he didn't have money to pay for legal service. I told him not to worry about the money.

"I eventually got him lawyer A.O. Ahmed in whose presence he wrote his statement. After writing his statement under caution, he signed it after recording everything in his own handwriting.

"I told him to cross-check again in case there was any omission or need for addition, he confirmed that there was no problem and he signed the statement.

"After checking the statement, my team leader, ASP Dada Segun requested that the lawyer endorse the statement which he also did, while I also signed my column too as an IPO. ASP Dada Segun also requested me to also do video recording of how the suspect signed his statement.

"I also used my Android Phone to do recording and I transferred it to my laptop and later to a compact disc with certificate of compliance," he narrated.

He stated further that Insp. Azeez, on February 16th 2025 and his team led by ASP Dada Segun, went to the scene of the crime at Olunlade and found a pair of earrings belonging to Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal.

He however confirmed all the exhibits tendered before the court as items recovered from Abdulrahman Bello's house.

Barr. Agbede, who held brief for the counsel to the 1st defendant, objected to the admission of the compact disc, stressing that the suspect was coerced into making his statement while counsels to other defendants raised no objection.

Justice Hannah Ajayi however admitted the disc as an exhibit and ordered that it be played in the courtroom.

The police witness further hinted that: "when the investigation started, Abdulrahman's call log revealed that the remaining defendants were on his regular call list before the day and the very day he perpetrated the evil act.

"All of them were tracked and arrested. When we took them before Abdulrahman Bello, it was discovered that they know each other, and the 2nd defendant happens to be the teacher of Abdulrahman, the 3rd defendant is also a student of the 2nd defendant while the 3rd and 5th defendant are his closest friends.

"We carried search on their houses, but nothing was recovered, and we returned them to the station," he stated.

At the time of filing this report, the court was on recess.