ABUJA, Nigeria — A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday heard a bail application for the first defendant in the terrorism trial over the June 2025 Yelwata massacre in Benue State, after defence lawyer Ibrahim Angulu told the court his client had suffered a stroke and needed treatment outside prison. Angulu also asked the court to strike out what he described as duplicate counts in the charge. As you can see, the first defendant has suffered a stroke,” Angulu told the court, according to local reporting. “On compassionate grounds, we are asking the court to allow him to be treated in a hospital instead of just lying in prison.” Punch reported that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik declined the application and adjourned the matter for continuation of the prosecution’s case.
The trial centers on nine men accused of carrying out the attack on Yelwata, a farming community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue, where prosecutors say about 150 people were killed in one of the deadliest rural attacks in Nigeria last year. Reuters reported earlier this month that the defendants face 57 terrorism-related counts, including allegations that they planned the assault in neighboring Nasarawa State, raised money, procured weapons and mobilized fighters before the June 13 raid. On Thursday, a prosecution witness, police intelligence officer Moses Paul, told the court that “disgruntled Fulani chiefs” allegedly sponsored more than 200 armed men carrying AK-47 rifles for the operation. He said investigators later arrested suspects in parts of Nasarawa State. Those claims remain allegations before the court, and all nine defendants have pleaded not guilty.
The case is unfolding against a wider diplomatic dispute between Washington and Abuja over religious freedom and insecurity in Nigeria. In January 2026, the United States and Nigeria launched a joint working group after Washington redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” under U.S. religious freedom law. The U.S. Embassy said the talks were led by Allison Hooker for Washington and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu for Nigeria.
After those talks, Hooker said Nigeria “must do more to protect Christians,” a formulation Nigerian officials and several analysts have pushed back against, arguing that the country’s violence affects both Christians and Muslims and reflects broader state failure to contain armed groups. Some U.S. lawmakers, including Representative Chris Smith, have kept up pressure on Abuja, accusing it of a “culture of denial” over the violence.
