A High Court sitting in Lafia, Nasarawa State, has sentenced Oluwatimileyin Ajayi to death by hanging for the murder of Salome Adaidu, a serving member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
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Justice Simon Aboki, who delivered the judgment, held that Ajayi was guilty of killing and dismembering the corps member.
Ajayi was tried on a single count of culpable homicide, an offence contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code applicable in Northern Nigeria, which prescribes a mandatory death sentence upon conviction. The court ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, leading to Ajayi’s conviction and sentence.
Salome, a 24-year-old NYSC member from Kogi State, was serving at NICON Insurance in Abuja before her life was cut short. On January 12, 2025, she visited Ajayi’s residence in the Papalana area of New Karshi, Karu Local Government Area, where she was brutally murdered. Ajayi was arrested that same day while allegedly trying to dispose of her severed head near a church in Orozo, a border town between Nasarawa and Abuja. Further searches at his residence uncovered six polythene bags containing other dismembered parts of her body.
Police recovered a knife and machetes believed to have been used in the killing, which sparked national outrage due to its gruesome nature. Though Ajayi initially admitted to the crime during interrogation, he later pleaded not guilty in court. The victim’s family, heartbroken and seeking justice, disputed claims that she was in a relationship with the accused, insisting she was abducted and killed in cold blood.
