The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday, March 9, 2026, admitted an AK-47 rifle and several naira notes as exhibits in the ongoing trial of suspects linked to the June 13–14, 2025 attack on Yelwata community in Guma Local Government Area.
The trial judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, accepted the firearm as Exhibit A after it was identified in court by the first prosecution witness, Moses Paul, a senior officer with the Nigeria Police Force Intelligence Response Unit.
The naira notes recovered from inside the rifle were admitted as Exhibits C1 to C5, while a ballistic examination report confirming the operational status of the weapon was admitted as Exhibit B.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had earlier arraigned nine suspects on February 2, 2026, charging them with 57 counts bordering on terrorism over their alleged roles in the deadly attack.
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 of whom pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Testifying during examination 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-open grazing law.
According to Paul, the third defendant, Abdullahi, had complained that his cattle and children were killed during earlier clashes and allegedly threatened retaliation after declining a police invitation to resolve the dispute.
He further told the court that the second defendant, Saidu, claimed that more than 150 cows and two of his children were killed near Yelwata. Saidu allegedly purchased an AK-47 rifle for N1m from a man identified as Musa.
The witness stated that investigators discovered that several meetings were later held in Nasarawa State, where the first defendant, Dono, allegedly instructed Fulani leaders known as Ardos to coordinate and finance an attack.
Paul said Saidu later convened another meeting at his palace where participants discussed possible targets, eventually choosing Yelwata, Daudu and Udeyi, with Yelwata becoming the main target.
He told the court that Abdullahi allegedly contributed N300,000 toward the operation, while Musa Mohammed reportedly contributed N200,000.
According to the witness, Abdullahi allegedly led the attack, while Saidu admitted participating alongside five of his children, who were armed with AK-47 rifles and remain at large. Saidu reportedly told investigators he personally killed eight people during the assault.
Paul said police recovered an AK-47 rifle from Saidu during the investigation.
While presenting the firearm in court, the witness said the rifle contained some naira notes.
“The rifle has some naira notes inside because it is their belief that placing money in an AK-47 makes it more effective,” he told the court.
Following the presentation, some defence lawyers reserved their objections while others did not challenge the evidence. The court subsequently admitted the rifle and the money into evidence.
The witness added that the weapon was later subjected to ballistic examination, which confirmed that the rifle was functional and had been recently fired.
However, counsel to the first defendant, Ibrahim Angulu, objected to the admission of the ballistic report, arguing that the witness was not the author of the document and that it should be certified as a public document.
Counsel to the second defendant supported the objection, while other defence lawyers reserved their responses.
In reply, Oyedepo argued that the report presented was the original document submitted to the investigating office and did not require further certification. After listening to both sides, the court admitted the report into evidence.
The witness also testified that Musa Mohammed, a brother to the third defendant, attended one of the planning meetings and contributed money toward the attack.
He further alleged that the eighth defendant, Shaibu Ibrahim, was present at the meeting but refused to disclose information to the police despite warnings.
“If the seventh and eighth defendants had provided the information to the police, the authorities could have investigated further, apprehended suspects and possibly prevented the attack,” the witness said.
The prosecution later sought to tender statements allegedly made by the defendants during the investigation, but defence lawyers objected, claiming the statements were obtained under duress and without the presence of legal counsel.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of the statements and adjourned the case until March 13, 2026.
Earlier in the proceedings, defence counsel accused police officers of intimidating the defendants in custody and attempting to force them to make additional statements.
Angulu told the court that the first defendant complained that officers had repeatedly visited him in custody over the past eight months to pressure him about the case.
Responding, Oyedepo denied the allegation, insisting that investigations had already been concluded. He explained that officers may have visited the correctional facility only to retrieve mobile phones allegedly taken there by the defendants.
The court, however, said it could not issue directives on the allegation without concrete evidence or input from correctional authorities.
The attack under trial occurred on the night of June 13 into the early hours of June 14, 2025, when gunmen suspected to be armed herders stormed Yelwata, a farming community and settlement for internally displaced persons in Benue State.
During the assault, scores of residents were killed, houses were burned and thousands of people were forced to flee their homes.
Reports indicated that more than 100 people, and in some accounts over 200 victims, including civilians and displaced families, died in the attack.
The violence displaced over 3,000 residents, many of whom were relocated to camps in Makurdi. The incident triggered widespread condemnation from rights groups, religious leaders and government officials, who called for stronger security measures and justice for victims.
