In delivering the judgment on Thursday after four months of trial, Justice Hannah Ajayi found Belo guilty of killing Lawal, who was reportedly his Facebook lover.
The court also discharged and acquitted four co-defendants: Ahmed Abdulwasiu (41), Suleiman Muyideen (28), Jamiu Uthman (29), and Abdulrahmon Jamiu (31), who were initially arraigned alongside Bello.
At the start of the trial, Bello confessed to killing Lawal for money rituals, claiming he needed human hands for that purpose. He identified himself as an Islamic cleric and admitted to committing the act alone.
According to testimonies, the tragic incident took place on February 13, 2025, when Lawal visited Bello’s residence in the Offa garage area of Ilorin to attend a friend's naming ceremony.
Throughout the trial, Bello provided inconsistent accounts of the events surrounding the murder. He initially stated that he choked Lawal to death after multiple rounds of sexual intercourse before dismembering her body.
However, he later claimed that she died from an asthma attack and asserted that he dismembered the body out of fear.