Cleric Gets Death Sentence for Student’s Ritual Murder

Kwara Court Sentences Islamic Cleric to Death for Ritual Killing of Student

An Islamic cleric, Abdulrahman Mohad—also known as Mohammed A. Bello—has been convicted and sentenced to death by a Kwara State High Court for the murder of a final-year student, Lawal Hafsoh Yetunde.

The tragic case involved the killing of Yetunde, a student at the Kwara State College of Education, in what the court determined to be a ritualistic act. The verdict brings to a close a harrowing legal process that has gripped the local community.

Justice was served as the court handed down the death penalty, condemning the act as heinous and inhumane.

Kwara High Court Delivers Judgment in Student’s Ritual Killing Case

Justice Hannah Ajayi of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin has sentenced Abdulrahman Mohad to death for the ritual murder of Hafsoh Yetunde, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education.

In the ruling delivered on Thursday, four other co-defendants—Ahmed Abulwasiu, a 41-year-old Islamic scholar; Sulaiman Muhydeen, a 28-year-old entrepreneur; Jamiu Uthman, a 29-year-old phone technician; and AbdulRahman Jamiu, a 31-year-old farmer—were acquitted and discharged due to insufficient evidence linking them to the crime.

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The incident, which occurred on February 10, 2025, began after Yetunde received a call while attending a naming ceremony and subsequently disappeared. Her absence sparked immediate concern, prompting her family to report the case to Oja Oba Police Division the next day.

An investigation into her disappearance, aided by phone record analysis, led police to Mohad, whose call was the last registered on the victim’s phone. According to the First Information Report, Mohad and others were alleged to have confessed to being part of a secret cult and admitted to robbing and murdering the young woman for ritual purposes.

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While the court found Mohad guilty and deserving of capital punishment, it ruled that the prosecution had failed to conclusively prove the involvement of the remaining four individuals, thus leading to their release.