Abdulrahman Bello, the alleged killer of Hafsoh Lawal, a 24-year-old student of the Kwara State College of Education, yesterday told Justice Hannah Olushola Ajayi of the Kwara State High Court the circumstances of her death.

In his testimony at the ongoing trial, Bello stated that the lady died of asthma, but he dismembered her to spite her father for refusing their marriage plans.

He said the father never wanted them to marry because of his poor Western education.

Bello, who appeared with his alleged accomplices, said, “On February 10, Hafsoh Adefalu Lawal visited me after several entreaties. She told me she was hungry, and I went out to get her bread and Fanta. When I returned, she told me that she was an ulcer patient and that the Fanta would affect her. Then I went out again to get her rice.

“As lovers, as we were eating, we started romancing. After eating, we left the parlour and entered the room where we had sex. During the lovemaking, I noticed a strange behaviour in her, so I quickly checked her bag for an inhaler. I didn’t see her inhaler, so I rushed to a nearby pharmacy for an inhaler. By the time I returned, I found her lifeless body.

“The situation became frightening. I was confused because she had once introduced me to her father, who refused my proposal to marry her because I didn’t have a Western education, and the lady later advised me to enrol for NABTEB (National Business and Technical Examinations Board).

“I became worried and went to buy some alcohol to drink. After this, a spirit urged me to dispose of her lifeless body without anybody’s knowledge since her father had rejected my proposal to marry her. Then I started cutting her. I dumped some parts at the incinerator, after which I cried till daybreak. The following morning, I went to our family at the Isale-Koto area, Ilorin, where I was until police operatives came to arrest me.”

In his cross-examination, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ayoola Akande, asked Abdulrahman to identify the cutlass, axe, and knife recovered from his room as belonging to him. Bello’s response was affirmative.

He also confirmed that the human parts brought before the court as an exhibit were the same as the ones he once severed.

When asked where the late Hafsoh’s head, believed to be in Ibadan, was, he said that he had thrown it away together with other parts.

“You claimed that you loved a lady who had done so much in your life, and you couldn’t move ahead to confirm if she was dead or not before you started cutting her body,” Akande asked Abdulrahman, who replied that he dismembered her body because he was afraid of her father.

After all the cross-examination processes, Abdulrahman told the court that he regretted all the circumstances that led to the death of Hafsoh and how he dismembered her.

Meanwhile, all the defence counsel unanimously agreed to file their written addresses concurrently before the court within seven days, while the prosecution counsel asked for 10 days to file his.

Justice Hannah Ajayi, who granted the requests, later adjourned to July 2 for the final adoption of the addresses.