Police witnesses present evidence against suspected killers of Kwara student

Two police witnesses, on Wednesday, presented evidence recovered in the house of one of the alleged killers of a final year student, Hafsat Lawal, in court before Justice Hannah Ajayi in Kwara State.

At the commencement of the hearing of the murder case, father of the deceased, Ibrahim Lawal, could not hold back tears when he was asked to identify parts of his daughter’s hands presented as exhibits by the police witness.

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Some of the 16 items admitted as exhibits include a cutlass, centre table stained with blood, axe, knife, keg containing human blood, a wooden box containing black soap, lady’s slippers, two earrings, one Tecno phone, one SR iPhone, one itel A50 phone and another iPhone, a bag containing charms, including animal horns and one exercise book containing account of charm.

Also admitted as exhibits were two hands of the deceased, among other human parts said to have been recovered at a dumpsite, as well as the deceased’s broken beads.

All five suspects were present in court, while four witnesses, out of 16, testified before Justice Hannah Ajayi.

In his submission, a police witness, Yusuf Dauda, who is custodian of the exhibits in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said he registered the items as brought by Inspector Ayodele Azeez.

“On February 16, 2025, I met with Inspector Ayodele Azeez, attached to the anti-robbery unit, coming with the defendants and the exhibit in a case of criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and illegal possession of human parts reported against the defendants.

“Items registered include cutlass, centre table stained with blood, axe, knife, keg containing human blood, and a wooden box containing black soap and lady’s slippers, two earrings, one tecno phone, SR iphone, itel A50 phone and one iPhone, a bag containing charms and animal horns and one exercise book containing account of charm.

“I registered all in the register meant for the purpose.”

There was no objection by counsel to the defendants to the registration of items presented to the court by the custodian of the exhibits.

However, in a cross-examination by counsel to the first defendant, Chukwudi Maduka, put it to the witness that he was not where the items were recovered and did not know the location that they were recovered.

Also in his statement before the court, Inspector Mohammed, attached to the state CID, said that he deposited human parts recovered in the house of the first accused person, Abdulrahman Bello, and those recovered at the dumpsite at the UITH for preservation.

He said that he only brought the items to court on Wednesday from the UITH.

The father of the deceased, Ibrahim Lawal, a resident of Oju Ekun, Ilorin and a teacher, narrated happenings that culminated in the discovery of her daughter’s killer, amidst sobbing to the court.

“On 2/2/2025, my daughter told me that her friend, Islamiyah, that recently gave birth, planned to do the naming ceremony. On 9/2/2025, she went to her friend, Falilat Abdul Hafiz, to prepare for the naming ceremony with “lali” hand design.

“Her sisters helped her with it. On 10/2/2025, she went to private school where she teaches and came back at about 1:00 pm after taking permission to attend the naming. She went to the event. At 4:00, her mother noticed she was no longer among those celebrating.

“She asked Falilat to find out Hafsat’s whereabouts. Falilat told the deceased mother that she got a call to attend to a person. The deceased did not even eat her served food, saying that she would come back to eat. I called her line, it rang, but she didn’t pick up. At about 7:00 pm, we called her line again, but it was said to be switched off.

“I called all our relations, but they said she wasn’t with them. The night fell, but she didn’t return. We had thought that she was afraid to come home after staying late. We searched all through the night for her.

“In the morning, my own father told me that the matter was already getting out of hand. At about 12 noon on 11/2/2025, I summoned my own brothers on the matter. It was around 3:00 pm that we got to the police station at Oja Oba, Ilorin.

“There, we were advised to do tracking of the deceased’s call logs. We gave the go-ahead on the development. It was on 13/2/2025 that the Police told us that efforts on the call logs had been achieved. Police assured that we would find our daughter and that work would commence the evening of that day.

“On 14/2/2025, police officer Moses again called me that the call log had led to an arrest since 13/2/2025. AbdulRahman has been arrested. Rahman was asked to tell us what happened by himself at the police station.

“It was said that Rahman had confessed, but he should say it by himself. Rahman said he’d killed Hafsat. I was down, I slumped. We asked for the corpse for burial. That’s when Rahman said that the matter is beyond that, revealing (unimaginably) that he has butchered my daughter.

“I cried with pain and anguish. Then, the police detective took Rahman to his house, while we waited in the ‘C’ Division’s DPO office. They came back with the exhibits. I could identify all the items brought back from his house. Such are parts of my daughter’s hands. And Rahman even said that my daughter’s blood was contained in the keg.

“I thought it was all a joke until I saw Hafsat’s hands because I was there when she was doing ‘lali” in preparation for the naming. Also, I identified her slippers and beads and her two phones (Android Tecno and a small Itel).”

The deceased’s (Hafsat) hands were later brought out for her father’s identification, which he confirmed to be the hands of his daughter.

Also, Hafsat’s closest friend, Falilat Abdul Hafiz, a student and a resident of Oju Ekun testified before the court.

Justice Hannah Ajayi later adjourned further hearing of the matter till Monday, May 12, 2025.

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