An Islamic cleric, Mohammed Bello, who was arrested in the Ilorin area of Kwara State for allegedly killing and dismembering the body of a lady, Hafsoh Lawal, whom he met via Facebook, has alleged that the lady died of asthma.
The 29-year-old suspect, in an interrogation video obtained by PUNCH Metro on Sunday, disclosed that he dismembered the body in a bid to conceal the victim’s death.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Hafsoh, a private school teacher, had gone missing last Monday after leaving a naming ceremony she had attended to visit a friend she met via Facebook.
When her whereabouts became unclear, her family reported her missing at the local police station prompting an investigation into the calls made on her line which led the police to Bello.
Following his arrest, the suspect denied knowledge of his involvement in the killing of Hafsoh which prompted the police to conduct a search of his residence where they found the dismembered body of Hafsoh among other exhibits.
Narrating what transpired between him and the victim in an interrogation video, the suspect noted that he was not responsible for the death of the victim.
Bello alleged that Hafsoh, who was his girlfriend, had told him she was hungry when she came to his house on the day of her death. He stressed that he had gone to get her food and returned to meet her gasping for breath.
Speaking in Yoruba (now translated), Bello said, ‘My name is Mohammed. I’m a Muslim cleric. I’m about to gain admission into KWASU.
‘The girl is Hafsoh. She is my girlfriend. I met her on Facebook. I didn’t kill her. I am just a victim of circumstance.
‘She told me they had an event at 1 pm after school that day. She got back after 3 pm. When she came, she told me she hadn’t eaten, so I went to get her food. However, she was gasping for breath when I got back’.
Bello alleged that Hafsoh had previously told him she was asthmatic and that he dismembered her body because he could not think of a better way of handling her death.
‘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’, Bello said.
When newsmen reached out to the family of Hafsoh, they dismissed Bello’s claim of the victim being asthmatic.
A friend of the victim’s father who was privy to the incident, Lawyer Odedele, told PUNCH Metro in a telephone interview on Sunday that the victim was part of individuals who cooked at the naming ceremony she attended before her death stressing that if she was asthmatic, she wouldn’t have participated in the cooking.
Odedele said, ‘Though I am not aware of her health history, even if she died of asthma as claimed by the suspect, was he supposed to have dismembered her body?
‘She was part of those who cooked at her friend’s naming ceremony before she left to visit the suspect. Would someone who is asthmatic have participated in the cooking? He is just making excuses’.
Efforts to get the reaction of the victim’s father, Alhaji Ibrahim Lawal, proved abortive as he had yet to respond to calls made to his line as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the Kwara State Police Command said it had commenced an investigation into the matter.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, disclosed that further details would be made available to the public upon the conclusion of an ongoing investigation.
