Benue residents poured on the streets on Sunday morning, June 15th, to mourn and protest the barbaric massacre of over 200 locals in their sleep at Yelwata, a Tiv speaking peaceful community in Guma Local Government of Benue State, bordering Nasara State.
Between 10PM and 2AM in the night on Friday the terrorists suspected to be Fulani militia stormed Yelwa internally displace persons (IDP’s) camps setting the shelters ablaze, burning scores alive, and macheting to death those who dared to run out from the raging fires, the locals say.
The victims were mostly women, children and the elderly. This attack happened yards away from a supposed security check point.
Thousands of other locals were cited trekking tens of miles seeking safety in Kadarko in Nasarawa State whilst some others were headed to Makurdi.
This is the latest attack on a community in Benue state that has come under intense attacks for over a decade by suspected Fulani herdsmen without anyone of the criminal being brought to justice. These militias are said to be camped in safe havens in Nasawa state where they invade and launch attacks on Tiv communities.
Our correspondent reports that the protesters in their hundreds swamped the popular Wurukum roundabout in Makurdi to register their grievance and pray for the repose of the souls of the dead.
The security agencies who have failed to protest lives and property in Benue were seen tear-gassing the peaceful mourners and protesters. It is not clear who deployed the security agencies to tear gas the mourners and protesters whilst security choppers hover.
The alarmed protesters and mourners wondered why the security agencies never responds to the terrorist attacks but are quick to turn aggressive towards protesters.
The protesters, who were later joined by social media influencer, Very Dark Man (VDM) called for decisive federal and state government action to end the massacre in Benue state.
The Yelwata Attack Foretold
A recently released kidnapped victim had revealed in a Facebook interview that he along side several others were taken into cell camp around Yelwata.
In the camp, he said several kidnap victims were held captive and ransoms collected but the Tiv speaking victims were killed without demand for Ransome. He further revealed that the criminals told them they are under instruction to kill as many Tiv people as people for better reward by their sponsors.
OTHER ATTACKS ON FARMING COMMUNITIES IN BENUE STATE
A by The Foundation for Justice, Development and Peace (FJDP) had chronicled series of attacks across Benue state in June, 2025.
The report prepared by ORI HOPE EMMANUEL, the COMMUNITY BASED PROTECTION ASSISTANT FJDP, MAKURDI indicated the report periods are on the 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th June, 2025 with a total number of 218 killed and 14 injured.
The report said the Benue State has been plunged into a maelstrom of bloodshed and chaos. Decades of escalating raids by Fulani extremists, who have increasingly targeted predominantly Christian farming Communities, transforming Guma’s once tranquil villages into scenes of devastation. The sustained campaign of violence has displaced thousands of families, and even designated sites for secondary displacement have not been spared bloodshed, leaving survivors mourning lost loved ones and confronting an uncertain future.
The non profit organisation indicated that the Yelewata massacre not only extinguished yet more innocent lives but also deepened the collective trauma that rural communities across Benue have endured for far too long.
FJDP reported that the attackers’ use of military disguises before opening fire demonstrates a chilling level of premeditation and coordination echoing tactics seen in previous assaults elsewhere in the state.
“With fields left untilled and homes abandoned, families once again find themselves trapped in a relentless cycle of displacement and despair. The fate of those who sought refuge at Ortese Camp only to be hunted down as they wrapped up their day underscores the vulnerability of displaced populations” it indicated.
“Despite urgent appeals for support, security reinforcements have remained both delayed and inadequate, enabling these raids to spread unchecked from one locality to the next.”
“To break this pattern of violence, Nigerian authorities must immediately strengthen local defense capacities, deploy regular and responsive patrols, and invest in community-based early-warning systems. Only through concerted, timely action can the people of Benue begin to reclaim the peace that was so ruthlessly torn from them in last night’s atrocity” the NGO concluded.
