A 29-year-old Islamic instructor, Abdulrahman Bello, who was arrested on Saturday for the suspected murder of Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student at Kwara State College of Education, has claimed he is an innocent man caught in an unfortunate situation.
In a video that surfaced on Saturday morning, Bello, who identified himself as Mohammed, denied any involvement in Yetunde’s death, asserting that she was his girlfriend.
According to him, Yetunde had mentioned attending an event at 1 p.m. on the day of her disappearance but returned after 3 p.m. She reportedly told him she was hungry, which led him to go out and buy food for her. Upon his return, he allegedly found her struggling to breathe.
In the video, he said in Yoruba, “My name is Mohammed. I’m a Muslim cleric.” When asked about his education, he responded, “I’m about to gain admission into KWASU.” Referring to the victim, he explained, “The girl is Hafusa. She is my girlfriend. I met her on Facebook.”
Bello emphatically stated, “I didn’t kill her. I am just a victim of circumstance.”
He went on to describe the events, saying, “She told me they had an event at 1 p.m. after school that day. She returned after 3 p.m., and when she came back, she said she hadn’t eaten, so I went to get her food. But when I returned, she was gasping for breath.”
Bello also claimed Yetunde had previously informed him that she suffered from asthma. “I was in shock when she died, so I couldn’t cry out for help. I dismembered her body and disposed of it at the public refuse dump because I couldn’t think of any better way. I have never done this before. This is my first time.”
Yetunde Lawal had been reported missing on February 11, the day after she failed to return home. Her body was later discovered at Bello’s residence, where police also found fetish items, leading to suspicions that this may not have been his first crime.
