A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced an Islamic cleric, Abdulrahman Bello, to death by hanging for the murder of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, the presiding judge, Justice Hannah Olusola Ajayi, found Bello guilty of the charges brought against him and ordered the capital punishment.
However, the court discharged and acquitted four other defendants who were initially charged alongside Bello. They include Ahmed Abdulwasiu, 41, of Zone C, No. 47 Adualere Area, Ilorin; Suleiman Muyideen, 28, of Neolife Business, No. 7 Adualere Area, Amilere Milengbe, Ilorin; Jamiu Uthman, 29, a phone repairer from Adualere Area, Ilorin; and Abdulrahmon Jamiu, 31, a farmer from Elemere Village via Malete Town in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Justice Ajayi ruled that there was insufficient evidence linking the four acquitted individuals to the crime.
