The trial of nine suspects linked to the June 2025 Yelwata killings, which reportedly claimed around 150 lives, was stalled on Tuesday after one of the defendants collapsed in court.
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 57 terrorism-related charges filed by the Federal Government. They had pleaded not guilty at arraignment and have been attending trial from custody.
Proceedings before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court were scheduled for a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of the defendants’ confessional statements.
However, the session was disrupted when the third defendant, Alhaji Haruna Abdullahi, collapsed shortly after the defendants were brought into the courtroom around 10 a.m.
Court officials and prison warders attempted to revive him and assisted him back to his seat, but he remained unresponsive.
When the matter was called around noon, Justice Abdulmalik noted that the defendant had “been like that for over an hour,” and therefore could not be considered present in court.
The prosecution, led by Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), Director of Public Prosecutions, said prison officials had indicated that the defendant was in good condition before arriving in court.
The defence, led by Ahmed Muhammad and supported by Ibrahim Angulu (SAN), requested that Abdullahi be immediately taken to a medical facility on humanitarian grounds.
Justice Abdulmalik granted the request, ordering hearing notices to be served on absent defence counsel, A. I. Kaura and Y. A. Hassan, and adjourned the case to March 30 and 31 for continuation of the trial.
The defendants were arraigned on February 2 over their alleged involvement in the June 13, 2025 attack on the Yelwata community in Guma Local Government Area. During the trial, the prosecution called its first witness, a police officer, who linked some defendants to recovered weapons.
The prosecution sought to tender the defendants’ statements, but the defence objected, prompting a trial-within-trial. At the resumed hearing on March 13, the prosecution claimed the confessional statements were made voluntarily and recorded, though proceedings were delayed after the video recording device was found corrupted, raising court concerns about further delays.
