A prosecution witness on Friday told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the nine defendants standing trial over the June 13, 2025, Yelwata attack in Benue State voluntarily gave their confessional statements to the police.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/TheNigerialawyer-WhatsApp-Channel1.jpg")
Recall that the defendants, Ardo Lawal, Mohammed Dono, Ardo Muhammadu Saidu, Alhaji Haruna Abdullahi, Yakubu Adamu, Musa Mohammed, Abubakar Adamu, Shaibu Ibrahim, Sale Mohammed and Bako Jibrin are facing trial on 57-count charges of terrorism over their alleged involvement in the attack, which reportedly claimed about 150 lives.
The defendants had all pleaded not guilty to the charges following their arraignment on February 2, 2026.
At the resumed hearing, the witness, Chief Superintendent of Police, Moses Paul, a team leader with the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigerian Police Force, testified during a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of the statements.
Paul told the court that none of the defendants was coerced into making the statements.
According to him, the confessions were obtained in the presence of the defendants’ lawyer and a family member, and under what he described as a conducive atmosphere.
He added that before the statements were recorded, the defendants were taken before the Commissioner of Police in charge of the IRT, where they also made confessional statements which were recorded audio-visually.
The witness further told the court that interpreters and a police officer who served as a writer were provided for defendants who were not literate.
Paul said that after the statements were taken, they were read back to the defendants, who confirmed that the contents accurately reflected what transpired.
Responding to claims by counsel to the first defendant that his client suffered a partial stroke due to alleged police brutality, the witness said the medical condition arose from an altercation with another detainee while in custody at the Criminal Investigation Department of the Nigeria Police Force in Benue State.
He told the court that the first defendant later slumped during the incident and was taken to a hospital, where doctors confirmed he had an underlying medical condition that resulted in a partial stroke.
During the proceedings, the witness also informed the court that the storage devices containing the video recordings of the defendants’ statements had become corrupted.
Following this, the prosecution counsel applied for an adjournment to enable them to retrieve the footage and serve the video evidence on the defence team.
Ruling on the application, the trial judge, Justice Joyce Abdullahi, cautioned the prosecution that its actions were delaying the proceedings, noting that defence counsel were already prepared to cross-examine the witness.
Justice Abdullahi subsequently adjourned the matter until March 24, 2026, for the continuation of the trial-within-trial.
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