Nigeria The Murderous Cleric: After 9 Years, Lukman Adeleke's Killer Sentenced to Death

Kabiru Ibrahim, the Islamic cleric who murdered his client, Lukman Adeleke, during what should have been a spiritual consultation for a land purchase, has finally been sentenced to death by hanging by an Osun State High Court.

Key Takeaways​

• Adeleke sought Ibrahim's prayers before buying land in 2016, bringing ₦300,000 as instructed.
• When Adeleke vanished, family pressure exposed holes in Ibrahim's story
• Ibrahim confessed and led police to dismembered remains on the Ilesa/Akure expressway
• Decade-long legal process finally concludes with death sentence
• The case exposes a dangerous intersection of spiritual trust and criminal opportunity

When the family confronted the cleric, he initially denied seeing the deceased for over two weeks. However, a community member refuted his claim, stating he had taken Adeleke to the cleric's house the day before his disappearance. Court sentences cleric to death by hanging for killing client in Osun. The community's collective memory became the crack that broke Ibrahim's carefully constructed lie.

What drives someone from offering prayers to committing murder? Ibrahim's decade-long journey from trusted spiritual adviser to death row reveals how thin the line can be between sacred service and predatory exploitation. Justice Lateef Adegoke's verdict closes one chapter but opens uncomfortable questions about how we protect the vulnerable moments when we seek divine guidance.