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| Benue attacks survivor, Joseph Kwagh. Credit: News Central TV |
In the early hours of Saturday, June 14, 2025, gunmen stormed the Yelewata community in Guma LGA of Benue State. Residents who were asleep on the night of Friday, June 13 were caught off guard when the assailants opened fire and set fire to homes and grain stores. The four-hour attack left scores dead and many more injured. According to a local survivor, Joseph Terzdungwe Kwagh, the onslaught was “allegedly carried out by suspected Fulani herdsmen”. Kwagh lost eight members of his immediate family in the raid – his father, stepmother and six siblings – and saw their home and food stores engulfed in flames.
Survivor’s Eyewitness Account
Kwagh described how that night began with ominous rumors. Villagers had received warnings that armed herdsmen were coming, but such threats had come before and ended without incident. “On the day of the attacks, there was rumours that Fulani herdsmen have sent messages…that they are coming to attack Yelewata, just like every other time… We thought it was like previous rumours that come and go without anything happening,” he said. In the calm before the storm, people sat outside their homes, “talking and sharing stories” as heavy rain began to fall.
As night fell and the downpour intensified, families rushed for shelter. “My father, his wife (my step-mother), and 6 of my siblings now crossed to the other side of the expressway… to get shielded from the rains,” Kwagh recalled. Moments later, gunfire erupted across Yelewata. “There were gunshots everywhere in Yelewata with pandemonium everywhere,” he said. The rain and darkness made it impossible to tell what was happening on the far side of the road, where his family had taken cover.
Panic spread as villagers saw a bleeding man running towards them, shouting that attackers were killing people. Kwagh, his mother and remaining siblings fled toward a nearby security post, where soldiers and police were engaging the gunmen. They escaped into the bush as the attackers continued shooting. According to Kwagh, reinforcements from Makurdi eventually arrived, forcing the gunmen to retreat. “That was how I was able to escape with my mother and siblings to safety,” he said.
In the quiet after the attackers withdrew, the full horror became clear. Kwagh returned to the house where his relatives had hidden and found them gone. “I discovered his charred remains along with my step-mother and siblings. I was really devastated,” he said. The flames had consumed not only his loved ones but also the family’s possessions. “We had foodstuffs in the store, where we normally go to restock our household. All burnt down along with our family members,” Kwagh added. In an instant, his family and their means of livelihood – savings, food and seed stock for planting – were gone.
Aftermath and Context
Local officials have confirmed a tragic death toll. Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia said at least 151 people were killed in the Yelewata massacre. (Some independent reports put the toll even higher.) Many bodies were found burned beyond recognition in homes and fields. Two attackers’ corpses were recovered by police and handed over as evidence, but no arrests have been announced. “There has been no any form of arrest so far,” Kwagh noted, adding that only the attackers’ remains had been recovered.
The raid left Yelewata devastated. Dozens of homes and grain stores were razed. Kwagh said the conflagration wiped out his family’s food reserves and seed stock for farming, echoing a widespread fear in the community. He expressed deep worry for the future: “These deaths have created a vacuum that I cannot fill. I have lost the little investment in terms of my savings, my foodstuffs, seedlings… and the fear of not being able to go back to farm again… because you never can tell what these pastoralists are capable of doing going further”. He drew strength from his surviving relatives and remained determined, “as far as there is life, there will be hope too”.
Residents blame the attack on longstanding ethnic tensions. Local elders had only asked herders to stop grazing cattle on their farmlands – “our only crime,” according to Kwagh. He said cattle had repeatedly destroyed crops without adequate compensation, impoverishing farmers over the years. In his words, Yelewata was “a peaceful place” that was “massacred by Fulani pastoralists, who have been waging war against us”. These clashes reflect a broader regional conflict, where farmer and herder communities often fight over land and water. Observers note that such raids have become more brutal and systematic, a dangerous escalation from isolated farmer-herder skirmishes to “full-scale assaults by well-armed bandits and terrorists,” as Governor Alia put it.
Government Response and Looking Ahead
The attack in Yelewata has drawn national attention. President Bola Tinubu expressed sympathy for victims and announced he would postpone a trip and instead visit Benue State on Wednesday to meet survivors and leaders. “I will adjust my programme and go see Benue people on Wednesday,” he said. Tinubu has also dispatched senior officials – including the Secretary to the Government, the Inspector General of Police, intelligence chiefs and lawmakers – to coordinate a security response in Benue. On Monday, IGP Kayode Egbetokun arrived in Makurdi with additional tactical teams to reinforce local forces. He vowed to collaborate with other agencies and “do everything humanly possible” to end the killings.
Civil society and political leaders have condemned the massacre. The Secretary to the Federal Government called the bloodshed “disheartening and utterly condemnable,” noting that the victims included men, women and children. Religious leaders and international voices have similarly decried what has been called a “terrible massacre”. Even Pope Francis (misidentified as Pope Leo in some reports) offered prayers for the victims.
As Yelewata mourns its dead and buries its dead, survivors like Kwagh fear more violence if the underlying crisis is not resolved. They implore the world to remember what happened in their village. “The world should be told that the peaceful place called Yelewata was massacred,” Kwagh said, urging international attention. For now, he and other bereaved families await President Tinubu’s visit and hope that stronger protection will allow them to resume farming and rebuild their lives.
Reporting by BHG-InfoDesks; sources include eyewitness testimony and official statements.
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