The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday admitted an AK-47 rifle allegedly recovered from one of the suspects linked to the June 13, 2025 attack on Yelwata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

The weapon was admitted in evidence by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik after it was presented in court by the first prosecution witness.

The witness, Moses Paul, a senior officer with the Nigeria Police Force Intelligence Response Unit (IRU), told the court that the rifle was recovered from one of the defendants, Ardo Muhammadu Saidu.

According to him, some naira notes were found inside the weapon.

“The rifle has some naira notes in-between because it is their belief that if you put money in an AK-47, it will answer,” the witness told the court.

The court admitted the rifle as Exhibit A, while the naira notes found inside it were marked as Exhibits C1 to C5.

A ballistic report on the weapon, tendered by the prosecution, was also admitted as Exhibit B after the witness stated that the report confirmed the rifle was “recently used and active.”

Nine suspects are currently standing trial over the attack on Yelwata community, which reportedly left about 150 people dead.

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 — were arraigned on February 2 on 57 terrorism-related charges filed by the Federal Government.

All the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

While testifying, the witness told the court that investigations linked the attack to disputes arising from the anti-grazing law introduced by the Benue State Government.

He alleged that one of the defendants, Haruna Abdullahi, had threatened retaliation after claiming that his cattle and children were killed.

The witness further stated that the suspects allegedly held meetings in neighbouring Nasarawa State where the attack was planned.

According to him, the first defendant convened a meeting of Fulani leaders during which they allegedly agreed to mobilise men and resources to attack several communities.

Another meeting was later held where the attackers allegedly agreed to target Yelwata, Daudu and Udeyi communities, before eventually settling on Yelwata.

The witness also claimed that some of the defendants contributed money to fund the attack.

He told the court that one AK-47 rifle was recovered from Saidu, while other weapons were allegedly in the possession of his children who are currently at large.

According to the witness, one of the children was later killed during a clash with the military.

The prosecution also sought to tender statements allegedly made by the defendants during the investigation.

However, defence lawyers objected to the admissibility of some of the statements, arguing that they were obtained under duress and without the presence of legal counsel.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements and adjourned the hearing to March 13.

Earlier, defence lawyers also alleged that police officers were intimidating the defendants in custody in a bid to compel them to make additional statements.

The prosecution denied the allegation, insisting that investigations had already been concluded.

Justice Abdulmalik said the court could not issue any directive on the allegation without concrete evidence or input from prison authorities.