Nigeria has filed 57 terrorism-related charges against nine men accused of planning and executing a June 2025 attack in Benue state that killed about 150 people.
Prosecutors told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the group held planning meetings, raised funds, procured weapons, and mobilised fighters across multiple states before striking Yelwata in Benue’s Guma district on 13 June.
Officials describe it as one of the deadliest rural assaults in years, with homes torched and heavy casualties reported.
The filing names Ardo Lawal Mohammed Dono as the ringleader, alleging he and his associates gathered in neighbouring Nasarawa state to raise cash, issue orders, and recruit fighters.
Several defendants are accused of supplying AK-47 rifles or offering locations for planning sessions.
The case unfolds as Nigeria struggles to contain violence in the Middle Belt, where disputes over land, religion, and ethnicity persist.
The security backdrop has grown more complex since U.S. President Donald Trump criticised Abuja for failing to protect Christians, a charge that increased scrutiny on Nigeria’s response mechanisms.
On 25 December, U.S. forces struck what they called terrorist targets. Nigerian authorities say they are working with Washington to strengthen intelligence sharing and restore stability across affected regions.
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Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Friday as ash from Mount Etna continues to disrupt air travel, following hundreds of cancellations and diversions over the past week.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
Russia has accused Ukraine of threatening global grain supplies after recent strikes on Black Sea agricultural infrastructure, while Moscow carried out a new overnight attack on Ukraine’s major Danube port of Izmail.
Record rainfall in Japan killed eight people and stranded thousands of travellers at Tokyo's Narita Airport on Friday, as flooding disrupted transport and cut power to 20,000 homes.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 14th of August, covering the latest developments.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or rerouted at Catania Airport over the past week as ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing eruption continues to disrupt air travel in Sicily.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Ebola outbreak has spread to a sixth province. A man died of the virus in Bas-Uélé in the north, the African Union’s health agency said.
At least 437 civilians were killed and 2,610 injured in Ukraine last month, according to UN investigators, marking the highest monthly civilian casualty toll since March 2022.
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