A High Court in Lafia, Nasarawa State, has sentenced gospel singer Timileyin Ajayi to death by hanging for the murder of Salome Adaidu, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member.
Justice Simon Aboki delivered the judgment on Thursday, convicting the 32-year-old of culpable homicide punishable by death under Section 221 of the Penal Code.
Salome, 24, had been declared missing in early January while serving in Abuja.
Days later, police arrested Ajayi after a commercial motorcyclist raised alarm over blood dripping from a bag the singer was carrying. Inside the bag, officers found the severed head of the corps member.
Following his arrest, Ajayi confessed to killing Salome in his bathroom, claiming she was his girlfriend and had cheated on him.
He said he used knives to dismember her body. However, the victim’s family denied the claim, saying Salome had no romantic involvement with the convict and had been kidnapped.
The prosecution told the court that Salome’s remains were found in buckets inside Ajayi’s house along with cleaning agents and weapons believed to have been used in the killing.
During the trial, Ajayi pleaded not guilty and urged the court to dismiss the case, but the judge ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Salome’s mother said her daughter had just resumed at NICON Insurance in Abuja before the incident and was preparing to marry a pharmacist before her untimely death.
One of her sisters, who visited the crime scene, described it as a horror movie, saying “they cut her into 40 pieces like meat.”
The gruesome murder sparked outrage online, with many Nigerians demanding justice and calling for more protection for young women across the country.
