Nigeria: Police Arraign 87-Year-Old Man for Allegedly Attacking Judge With Cutlass in Court

What the report says

Police in Adamawa State, Nigeria, have arraigned 87-year-old Dahiru Garba over an alleged attack on an area court judge during proceedings in Fufore Local Government Area. According to Premium Times, which was distributed by AllAfrica, the incident happened on 31 August at the Mayo-Ine Area Court, where Garba was appearing in a case involving him and another man, Ismail Yusuf.

The report says Garba, a resident of Korawa village, was accused of striking Judge Dauda Hamman’s hand repeatedly with a cutlass, leaving the judge with serious injuries. Police said the suspect was arrested after the attack, and the case was later moved from the Fufore divisional police headquarters to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Yola for further investigation and prosecution.

Garba was brought before Chief Magistrate Court I in Yola on Tuesday and charged with one count of causing grievous hurt under Adamawa State’s Penal Code Law. The court heard that he pleaded guilty after the charge was read to him. The report says he expressed remorse and blamed the devil for his conduct, though that explanation was not independently verified in the article.

The magistrate ordered that he be remanded in Yola Correctional Facility pending further hearing. The case highlights security concerns around court proceedings and the handling of violent conduct in Nigeria’s lower courts, where magistrates and area court judges often deal with local disputes and criminal matters.