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The trial of nine suspected terrorists who were allegedly involved in the June 2025 Yelwata killings was stalled on Tuesday due to the absence of an interpreter to translate the oral statements from English to Hausa for the defendants.
The nine suspects were accused of orchestrating the massacre, which occurred on June 13, 2025, in Yelwata, Benue State, where many houses in the community were razed, and about 150 people were gruesomely killed.
The suspects are being prosecuted on alleged terrorism offences before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The suspected terrorists facing trial include Ardo Lawal Mohammed Dono, Ardo Muhammadu Saidu, Alhaji Haruna Abdullahi, Yakubu Adamu, Musa Mohammed, Abubakar Adamu, Shaibu Ibrahim, Sale Mohammed, and Bako Jibrin.
All nine of them denied the charges against them. NAN reported that although the prosecution and defence lawyers, including the witness, were in court, there was no interpreter in court.
Maryam Okorie, who appeared for the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), however, apologised to the court for the absence of an interpreter to interpret proceedings in Hausa.
She applied to have the matter stood down to arrange an interpreter, but Justice Abdulmalik declined to grant her request.
The judge said that, since Okorie had failed to produce an interpreter for her case, the matter would be adjourned at the prosecution’s instance.
Justice Abdulmalik fixed April 16 and April 17 for the continuation of the trial.
The trial also stalled on March 24 after one of the defendants fainted in court.
