Federal High Court Admits Video Evidence in Benue Killings Trial
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday admitted a compact disc containing recorded statements of defendants standing trial over alleged killings in Benue State. The disc, tendered by prosecution counsel Mariam Okorie, was accepted after the court confirmed that the defendants had been served with the material. The trial judge marked it as Exhibit TWT1.
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During proceedings, the court played the video recordings in open court. In the footage, prosecution witness Paul Moses explained that the recordings documented the defendants from the point of arrest in Benue, their transfer to the Intelligence Response Team, and the taking of statements in the presence of their lawyers and family members.
One clip featured the third defendant, Haruna Abdullahi, who confirmed personal details including that he has four wives and 15 children. He also claimed to have lost about 100 cows and two children, alleging similar losses among other Fulani herders around May last year. Abdullahi stated that an Ardo convened a meeting in response to these losses, where he contributed N300,000 as part of efforts to seek revenge. He disclosed that he had previously owned an AK-47 rifle but had sold it.
In other clips, Abdullahi blamed Tiv youths for attacks that led to the deaths of hundreds of cattle and rams, forcing several herders to flee. He admitted attending community meetings and contributing money but claimed he was unaware if the funds were used to finance attacks.
During the video playback, counsel for the third defendant raised concerns over the accuracy of the court interpreter, alleging defective translation of the Hausa-language recordings. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik discharged the interpreter and directed the prosecution to provide a new interpreter before the next hearing.
The trial had previously faced disruptions, including an incident where Abdullahi slumped in court and was assisted back to his seat by officials. Earlier, the prosecution’s attempt to tender defendants’ statements had led to a trial-within-trial after objections from the defence. Proceedings were also delayed after the device containing the video recordings was reported corrupted, prompting the court to caution against further setbacks.
Federal High Court Admits Video Evidence in Benue Killings Trial