Hearing for nine accused in Yelwata massacre case hits snag due to lack of translation services

The trial of nine suspected terrorists linked to the June 2025 Yelwata killings was stalled on Tuesday due to the prosecution's inability to provide an interpreter to translate English to Hausa for the defendants, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria.

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The defendants, who are being prosecuted for alleged terrorism offences before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja, include Ardo Lawal Mohammed Dono, Ardo Muhammadu Saidu, and Alhaji Haruna Abdullahi, among others.

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They are accused of carrying out a terror attack on June 13, 2025, in Yelwata town in Benue, which resulted in the burning of houses and the massacre of approximately 150 people, with many others sustaining injuries.

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The suspects, who denied all 57 counts of the charge, include Yakubu Adamu, Musa Mohammed, Abubakar Adamu, Shaibu Ibrahim, Sale Mohammed, and Bako Jibrin, in addition to the previously mentioned defendants.

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The case was scheduled to continue on Tuesday with the prosecution set to play video evidence containing the defendants' confessional statements, but the absence of an interpreter hindered the proceedings.

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Maryam Okorie, representing the Attorney-General of the Federation, apologized to the court for the lack of an interpreter and requested a stand-down to arrange for one, but Justice Abdulmalik declined the request.

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The judge instead adjourned the matter, citing the prosecution's failure to produce an interpreter, and scheduled the trial to continue on April 16 and April 17.

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An interpreter had been discharged by the judge on Monday after Ahmed Muhammad, representing the 3rd defendant, raised concerns about the accuracy of the interpretation of the Hausa language video recordings.

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The trial had previously stalled on March 24 when one of the defendants fainted in court, highlighting the challenges faced by the proceedings.

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According to the charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/471/2025, the defendants and others at large allegedly participated in meetings connected to the commission of an act of terrorism between May and June 2025 in Nasarawa State.

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The defendants are accused of planning and carrying out the attack on Yelwata Community, resulting in the burning of houses, grievous bodily harm, and the death of approximately 150 persons, contrary to Section 12(a) of the Terrorism Act.

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In count 25, Dono, the 1st defendant, is alleged to have instigated and instructed others to carry out the attack, with the offence being contrary to Section 26(2)(b) of the Terrorism Act.

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Authorities reported that approximately 150 persons died in the attack, with the defendants facing multiple counts related to the incident.