Federal High Court admits AK-47 and naira notes as evidence in the Benue attack trial over the deadly 2025 Yelwata village assault

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday admitted an AK-47 rifle and several naira notes as exhibits in the ongoing Benue attack trial involving suspects linked to the June 13, 2025 assault on Yelwata village in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

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The rifle was admitted as Exhibit A after the first prosecution witness, Moses Paul, a senior officer of the Nigeria Police Force Intelligence Response Unit, identified the weapon before the court.

Naira notes discovered with the firearm were admitted as Exhibits C1 to C5, while a ballistic report confirming the weapon’s operational status was accepted as Exhibit B.

The Federal Government had on February 2 arraigned nine men on 57 counts of terrorism over their alleged involvement in the attack, which reportedly claimed about 150 lives.

The defendants are Ardo Lawal Mohammed Dono, Ardo Muhammadu Saidu, Alhaji Haruna Abdullahi, Yakubu Adamu, Musa Mohammed, Abubakar Adamu, Shaibu Ibrahim, Sale Mohammed and Bako Jibrin. All the accused pleaded not guilty.

Testifying under questioning by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, the witness said police investigations linked the crisis to tensions surrounding the enforcement of the Benue State anti-grazing law.

According to him, the third defendant, Abdullahi, allegedly complained that his cattle and children had been killed and vowed revenge after declining a police invitation to resolve the dispute.

Paul told the court that the second defendant, Saidu, claimed more than 150 cows and two of his children were killed near Yelwata. The witness said Saidu allegedly bought an AK-47 rifle for N1 million from a man identified as Musa following the incident.

The investigation further revealed that community leaders and the defendants reportedly held planning meetings in neighbouring Nasarawa State.

During one meeting, the first defendant, Dono, allegedly directed Fulani leaders, known as Ardos, to organise and finance a coordinated attack.

According to the witness, Saidu later hosted another meeting at his palace where participants debated possible targets before settling on Yelwata, Daudu and Udeyi, with Yelwata becoming the primary target.

Abdullahi allegedly contributed N300,000 towards the operation, while Musa Mohammed provided N200,000.

Paul also testified that Abdullahi allegedly led the assault, while Saidu admitted taking part with five of his children, who were reportedly armed with AK-47 rifles and remain at large.

The witness said Saidu told investigators he personally killed eight people during the attack.

While displaying the firearm in court, Paul said police recovered the rifle from Saidu during the investigation. “The rifle has some naira notes in between because it is their belief that if you put money in an AK-47, it will answer,” he told the court.

After the weapon was tendered, two defence lawyers reserved their objections while others raised none, prompting the court to admit the rifle and the naira notes as evidence.

The ballistic report confirming the weapon had been recently used and was functional was also admitted after arguments between defence lawyers and the prosecution.

Counsel to the first defendant, Ibrahim Angulu, had challenged the admissibility of the report, arguing that the witness was not the maker of the document and that it required certification as a public record.

Oyedepo countered that the document was the original report submitted during the investigation and therefore did not require further certification.

Justice Abdulmalik ruled in favour of the prosecution and admitted the report into evidence.

The witness also alleged that Musa Mohammed, a brother to the third defendant, attended one of the planning meetings and contributed financially to the attack.

He further claimed that the eighth defendant, Shaibu Ibrahim, attended the meeting but failed to provide information to police despite warnings.

“If the seventh and eighth defendants had given that information to the police, the police would have actively investigated and could have prevented the attack,” the witness said.

Following the testimony, the prosecution attempted to tender several statements allegedly made by the defendants during the investigation. Defence lawyers objected, claiming the statements were obtained under duress and without legal representation.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of the statements and adjourned proceedings to March 13.

Earlier in the hearing, defence counsel accused police officers of intimidating the defendants in custody and attempting to force additional statements from them.

Angulu told the court that the first defendant had complained of repeated visits from investigators during the past eight months.

Oyedepo denied the allegation, stating that investigations had already been concluded and suggesting that officers might have visited the correctional centre to retrieve mobile phones allegedly taken there by the defendants.

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The judge said the court could not issue directives on the allegation without concrete evidence or input from correctional authorities, emphasising that any action must be based on credible facts.