It seems that the more many members of Nigeria?s social media generation witness the depressing effects of social media use by criminals, the more they ignore the clear and present dangers that such criminals pose to them. Time and again, Nigeria?s young ladies have fallen prey to killers and fraudsters masquerading as decent people on social media. The latest of such heartrending stories is that of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of a state college of education who was recently butchered up by a 29-year-old self-acclaimed Islamic cleric she had met on Facebook. The suspect, one Mohammed Bello, was recently arrested in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, for allegedly killing and dismembering Hafsoh?s body after luring her to his lair following a Facebook contact. The incident reportedly happened on Monday, February 10. The details of the case are indeed horrific: the victim was reportedly attending a naming ceremony when she received a phone call from her Facebook friend. She left her food to answer the call and then disappeared. Family members and friends launched a futile search for her before reporting the matter to the police at the Oja Oba Station in Ilorin the following day.

Determined to unravel the case, police investigators used Hafsoh?s phone records to trace her last call, and then arrested Bello, a resident of the Offa Garage area of Ilorin. Although the suspect was said to have initially denied any involvement in the victim?s disappearance, a search of his residence told exactly the opposite story: Hafsoh?s dismembered body was found in a bowl, along with tools suspected to have been used in perpetrating the heinous act. Rationalising his dastardly act of dismembering the victim, Bello, who described the deceased as his girlfriend, claimed that he was only a victim of circumstances. According to him, the incident occurred when she visited his residence in the Olunlade area of Ilorin after attending an event. She complained of hunger, he claimed, and he then promptly went out to buy food for her. According to him, upon his return, however, he found her gasping for breath. Hear him: ?She shockingly passed out shortly after. I couldn?t cry out for help, so I dismembered her body and disposed of it at a public refuse dump in the area. I was confused about what to do in that instance and couldn?t think of a better way. I have never done something like this before.? But police found further incriminating evidence at the cleric?s residence, including a table said to have been equipped with dismemberment tools. That raised the possibility that the suspect, who is reportedly the son of a recently deceased prominent Islamic cleric from Isalekoto, Ilorin, had been previously involved in such horrific practices.

Given the uncanny resemblance that this story bears to others in recent times, it is clear that a gang of killers is on the prowl looking for gullible people, especially young ladies, to devour. In January, a so-called gospel singer, Timileyin Ajayi, was arrested by men of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Nasarawa State Police Command in Lafia for the murder of a lady he alleged was his girlfriend, Salome Eleojo Adaidu, a 24-year-old member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Salome was murdered when she allegedly visited the suspect at his house in the Papalana axis at New Karshi in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. The suspect was paraded with the weapons, namely a knife and a machete, he had used to butcher up the victim. He was nabbed on Sunday, January 12, while trying to dispose of the victim?s head after killing her and decapitating her.

In September last year, the corpse of a 21-year-old final-year student of the Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa, Awesu Mojisola Oluwafunmike, was found at a refuse dump. The victim, who had just celebrated the completion of her course three weeks before the sad incident and splashed photos of the joyous event on social media platforms, had gone missing on August 9, 2024 after receiving a phone call from one Timileyin, a friend who informed her about an event organised by students of some private universities in Ilorin. The said Timileyin had introduced Mojisola to one Mr Adebayo Happiness, a student of a private university, who allegedly invited her to a night party under the pretence of having her act as his girlfriend for a fee of N15,000. Upon her arrival in Ilorin, Mojisola informed her roommate that she felt uncomfortable in the hotel where she was lodged by Adebayo Happiness and noted that there was no party at the said location. Her body would later be discovered at a refuse dump. In the same month, one Alex, who was believed to be a ritualist and a fraudster, was caught at a hotel in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, attempting to kill a hook-up girl named Olivia for rituals. Were it not for the timely response of the hotel workers who heard her screams, the young lady, who was found stark naked and tied up with a rope, would have been history.

In the current story, a man who is in all probability a bloodthirsty murderer?at any rate, he is a self-confessed mutilator of a human body?found easy prey through social media, criminally betraying the trust of his visitor, who went from being a Facebook friend and a prospective girlfriend to a murder victim. Apparently, the victim in this story took Facebook experience, including posts, likes, discussions and friendships, at face value and chose to visit a killer who would later tell police investigators that he was about to gain admission into a university in the state. Given what is known of social media behaviour, it is not impossible that the suspect even lied to her about his academic status and other issues. Young people yet to write the university entrance examination have been known to refer to themselves as undergraduates on social media, a platform which has so many ?CEOs? that have no known office, and nobody working under them.

While we recognise the right of young people to enter into relationships, including romantic ones if they are of the required age, we hasten to warn that they should exercise caution at all times. It is still the case, even in 2025, that not all that glitters is gold. Before meeting or agreeing to meet total strangers, it is necessary to ask whether the potential gains outweigh the risks. It is necessary to tell other people about one?s movement, and to have digital footprints. Time was in this country when traders left their wares in their stalls to attend to other matters, confident in the assurance that no prospective buyer would make away with their goods. Those times are gone for good. The desperately dangerous times that we live in require sifting through information very carefully and adopting a methodologically sceptical attitude where necessary. Many butchers are out there on social media and on the streets pretending to be decent people. Young people, in particular, should be extremely careful.

We call for a painstaking investigation that will lead to justice being done in this case. We urge the Kwara State government to use this case to send a signal to would-be killers that they have no place in the state. May the soul of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal rest in sweet repose and may her family and friends find the fortitude to pull through at this terrible hour. (Nigerian Tribune Editorial)

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