He was sitting on the bench to deliver justice; instead, he was forced to fight for his life. Speaking from his hospital bed, Judge Dauda Hamman has revealed the harrowing moment an 87-year-old defendant broke free from security, drew a hidden machete, and aimed for his head.
YOLA, Nigeria — Lying in a hospital bed with severe lacerations wrapped in bandages, His Worship Dauda Hamman, an Area Court judge in Adamawa State, has recounted the terrifying moments an 87-year-old litigant tried to hack him to death during an active court session.
The bloody assault, which occurred on August 31, 2026, at the Mayo-Ine Area Court in Fufore Local Government Area, has sent shockwaves through Nigeria’s lower judiciary. Now, as police prosecute his attacker, Judge Hamman is telling his side of the story—exposing the terrifying reality faced by judicial officers sitting in unprotected rural courthouses.
A Procedural Intervention Turned Hostile
According to Judge Hamman, the day began like any other routine session, presiding over a civil land dispute between the octogenarian defendant, Dahiru Garba of Korawa village, and a local complainant, Ismail Yusuf. Both men had previously been granted farmlands by the local traditional leader, Marafa Maye, but Yusuf took Garba to court after the latter allegedly encroached on his property.
Garba pleaded not guilty, and trial proceedings got underway. However, chaos erupted during the cross-examination of a prosecution witness. When the witness struggled to answer Garba’s questions, Judge Hamman stepped in to ensure fair trial standards were met—instructing the court registrar to translate and repeat the testimony so the elderly, unrepresented defendant could fully grasp the evidence.
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Instead of accepting the court’s assistance, Garba flew into a rage, launching a barrage of verbal abuse directly at the presiding judge.
“When the court registrar attempted to restore order, Garba escalated his threats,” Judge Hamman recalled, noting that the 87-year-old openly boasted he would do “worse than that” to the bench.
“He Charged the Bench”: The Ambush Recounted
Sensing an immediate threat to the court’s decorum and safety, Judge Hamman ordered his security personnel to remand Garba and remove him from the room. That was when the routine hearing spiraled into a violent nightmare.
As officers attempted to escort Garba out, the octogenarian unexpectedly broke free from their grip, pulled out a short machete he had smuggled under his robes, and rushed straight back toward the bench.
“I raised my arms to shield my head, but I sustained severe injuries to my right hand,” Judge Hamman stated from his hospital bed.
The judge’s split-second instinct to cover his head likely saved his life. Before Garba could land a second, fatal blow, three bystanders—identified as Abubakar Honourable, Malam Musa, and the judge’s personal secretary—courageously threw themselves into the fray, tackling and disarming the armed octogenarian.
Hospitalization, Remand, and Call for Judicial Safety
Bleeding heavily from deep defensive wounds, Judge Hamman was rushed to a local clinic for emergency stabilization before being transferred to a major medical facility in Yola for specialized treatment, where he remains hospitalized.
Meanwhile, the Adamawa State Police Command arrested Garba and transferred the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID). On September 7, 2026, Garba was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ismail Bello Shelleng in Yola, charged with causing grievous hurt under Section 219 of the Penal Code Law of Adamawa State.
Garba pleaded guilty, blaming the attack on demonic influence and expressing regret. He was remanded to the Yola Correctional Facility until his next court date on September 17, 2026.
However, legal experts reviewing Judge Hamman’s personal account note that because the attacker aimed directly for the judge’s head, the prosecution could easily elevate the charges to attempted homicide—a crime carrying up to life imprisonment.
For Judge Hamman and his colleagues on the lower bench, the incident is a stark wake-up call. Legal stakeholders across Adamawa are now demanding an immediate overhaul of security protocols in lower courts, insisting that bailiffs and rural judges should never again be left defenseless against armed, hostile litigants.
