‘Tunji Solomon
THOUGH THERE are scores of death that go unnoticed, there are deaths that are just too silent to be heard. But there is always exceptional death that seems to be loud in silence. Among such death is Cynthia Udoka Osokogu and Lawal Hafsoh Yetunde. The latter more recent than the former. The patterns of their deaths are classical designs of one of the sons of the retired gods. They were symbols of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. With the recent killings of mothers of tomorrow, many women will climb the geometric staircase of distrust with more passion and pleasure. They are now like a person who trusts no one, because they once trusted someone too much.
THE MAN at the centre of the tragedy, Abdulrahman Mohad Ballo, a reported Islamic cleric in Ilorin metropolis was arrested last week, Monday, February 10, 2025; for being the prime suspect in the missing, disappearance and murder of Lawal Hafsoh Yetunde – a final year student of Kwara State College of Education. She was allegedly killed for ritual reasons. Ballo started the journey on how to bait her and kill her on Facebook, by collecting her phone contact. Facebook again? The rest were executed in Ballo’s mind and his slaughter slab. The video evidence is horrible to watch.
YETUNDE, HER death cuts beyond the borders and lines of religion. It is more than restriction beyond our human capacity: it is a reflection of human wickedness that is deep than the abyss of hopelessness. It is war against humanity and one of the sustenance of cycle of life: the 25 years old Lawal Yetunde. Her death is the manifestation and consistent reigns of evil in the nation. This writer has not aligned his thoughts to Error of Logic: this type of evil is not solely identity of a particular religion. It is about human life will need to argue over. That’s the ultimate price any one could pay. What is wrong with humanity in us?
NO ONE should fault the dead. Yetunde was innocent and cannot be guilty of anything. Question may be asked: why did she need to go and visit Abdul Rahman when she has already brought her fiance to her parent? That’s human dissection. What did we know was said to her by Abdulrahman before she left the christening ceremony she attended? The Alfa and other men of God have sorts of magical influences on women in many hard ways. Similarly, this writer believes strongly that the suspect deliberately chose ladies to be her target victims for easy execution of his plans, if the reports are any thing to go by that more ladies shoes were retrieved in Abdulrahman’s house. After all, the Holy Books call them weaker vessels. Not so?
THERE ARE instances of men of God who called themselves into ministry and perpetrate evils in the name of Christian religion. There are instances of traditional worshippers who claimed human lives to appease the gods. There are examples of ordinary citizens who maimed and waste human lives at will. They have godfathers and human organs trafficking cliques. They are more than what is ordinary. They know the buttons to press to douse the tension and flames this tragedy has generated. They have done it before, they can do it again.
THEIR PLOYS are never like the replica of The Last Caravan by Bello Musa Dankano,’s thematic occupation, in which a major character, El-Noor, as the storyline makes the readers believe, is abducted for illicit ritual reasons and was able to come out successfully after his innate jinn comes to his rescue. Yetunde didn’t make it. Her death is a reflection and has come at a critical time in which the nation is being subjected to test of character, once again. Especially, the unspoken statement from a nation that walks past every tragedy like it is one of normal things. Emotionally, this is one of the lowest moments of this writer. He is struggling to compose the alphabets. This lady’s death is too shocking and touching. One can only imagine how she groaned to death, and surrendered to her assailant. Her nostrils closed in regrets as she exhailed and inhaled to bid the world goodbye. Collectively and regardless of our religion, our humanity is being questioned through her death.
SHE WAS murdered for reasons best known to the Abdulrahman Mohad Ballos of this world, but not hidden from the murderer’s clique, gang of shame and endangered species. She was not only murdered in cold blood, she was slaughtered and butchered in a cruel manner devoid of sympathy for human life. Her exit was gruesome. Even animals are not killed in this cruel state. How did we get here as a nation?
BEING A writer who has written on couples of tragedy of this nature, just thirteen (13) years ago when this writer wrote about Cynthia Osokogu, who was a victim and casualty of social media stalking via her Facebook page. She was a promising and beautiful woman, whose dreams and aspirations were doused by warped minded men. We would recall that she was baited with business prospects from Abuja to Lagos and to the usual rendezvous of killer’s, hotel. In cruel state, preliminary findings unveiled that she she was drugged, raped, robbed and tied up; with beaten and being strangled as the last doses. She was killed on July 21, 2012. The two convicted men were: Okwumi Echezona Nwabufor and Ejike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka. The two men connected to her on Facebook too. The script of her tragedy was allegedly executed in an hotel. The rest is now history.
TO FAST forward to 2025, there have been series of killings of these innocent ladies and promising mothers by young men, whose souls are sold to the devil. Their heart is seared and burned. They are devil’s advocate in religious garb. Their tattoo of faith is themed in crimes and criminal tendencies. They are gods who are worshipped by men of affluent and classed individuals who need human parts. Their wealth stinks before God, but flavoured before men. Women flock them like magnets and iron metals. They are respected by members of the society. They are filths before God. Many poor souls are better than them before God. But the poor souls never know. They are like the Biblical Rich Man and Lazarus. The storyline didn’t end well for the former.
THE YEARS ahead are going to be filled with periodic sadness for her family, especially, her mother. Only God can console her. The love of a mother towards her daughter is always unlimited. Her mother’s love would echo beyond now to eternity. She will speak from the loneliness of her heart to emptiness of life. She is the only one that understands her world of agony. Her mother would look at her mates as the years pass-by and thinks of what could have been, had it been Yetunde is alive. Such is the tragedy of a personal loss that is psychologically shared nationally. Yetunde’s father cannot but resigned to fate and courageous in this moment. He cannot but rely on God for comfort and consolation. Only God can uphold him. Sadly, the way of the children of the retired god is filled with callousness and blood shed. As Fela Anikulapo-kuti once said: “they leave sorrow tears and blood; their regular trade marks”. Such is the way of the Biblical Cain who is soaked in the materialism and thinks less of other human beings.
THE SUSPECT, Abdulrahman Mohad Ballo and his household are not proud of his devil’s advocate roles he played. He actually fulfilled William Shakespeare’s evergreen statement: “Go wise and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall”. He didn’t just fall, he wrote his family name in ruins. His thirstiness for wealth and fame has presented him stark reality of damnation. He is not alone, but the chances of getting others arrested is slim. This is a familiar road in our national crime history. Where is Clifford Orji today? Only few could remember his name and what brought him to limelight. Unlike Clifford Orji, Ballo is bound to face the consequences. He played the music, he understands the lyrics, the tunes belong to him to dance to. Though his life is now under the siege of death, if he finds repentance with God, he cannot escape the wrath of law and the dominance of Sharia Law. It is the test of faith for Muslim faithfuls to secure justice for Yetunde and her family. The world is watching closely. The world is watching from the distance!
JUSTICE FOR Yetunde Hafsoh Lawal I crave!
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