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Family of the murdered final year female student of Kwara State College of Education, Hafsoh Lawal, has requested the state High Court sitting in Ilorin to release the dismembered body of the deceased for proper burial according to Islamic rites.
The request was made by the Kwara state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Senior Sulyman, who is the prosecution team lead in the murder case of Hafsoh Lawal against five suspected persons.
The defence counsel, Mr. Chukwudi Maduka, who represents the first defendant, Abdulrahman Bello, raised no objections to the request, saying that he sympathized with the family despite the ongoing prosecution.
Abdulrahman Bello and four others are standing trial on the charges of conspiracy and murder of Hafsoh Lawal.
At the resumed hearing, three more witnesses including two police officers and an anatomic pathologist from University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Dr. Olaleke Folaranmi testified before the court.
Key police witnesses, including officers from the Police ‘C’ Division, Oja Oba, Ilorin and the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), testified that the prime suspect had orally confessed to the crime.
The officers said that the suspect led investigators to his apartment and later to a dumpsite at Olunlade area of the state capital to recover parts of the dismembered body of the deceased.
The policemen also said that the investigation led to the maim dumpsite located near the Okolowo–Eyenkorin expressway where parts of the body were allegedly recovered.
A postmortem report, by a pathologist from the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Dr. Olaleke Folaranmi, which was admitted as Exhibit P17, confirmed that the remains were human parts.
The presiding judge, Justice Hannah Ajayi, who described bail application for the suspects as distraction, promised to give accelerated hearing to the case and adjourned proceedings till May 21, 2025 for continuation of hearing.
By Abdullah Ahmed
