•How we escaped death hiding on trees -Survivors
•Our children were slaughtered in our presence -Victims
From scholastica Hir, Makurdi
In Benue, a state in North-Central Nigeria, ‘life is nasty, brutish, and short,’ the famous phrase from Thomas Hobbes’ book, Leviathan, seems to paint a perfect picture of the state of affairs.
On Saturday, June 14, 2025, the peaceful community of Yelwata in Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of the state was, again, subjected to a barbaric and coordinated massacre of innocent citizens. An estimated 200 innocent people, including men, women, and children, were brutally murdered and burnt in a savage attack carried out by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
Two days earlier, on Thursday, June 12, gunmen suspected to be herdsmen militia, had attacked two communities of Tse Mtswenem and Akondotyough Bawa in North Bank, Makurdi, the Benue State capital, leaving about 25 persons dead.
Also, a total of 46 persons were reported killed by the same suspected herdsmen in Gwer West and Apa LGAs barely one week after a priest, Rev Fr Solomon Atongo, was shot along Makurdi-Naka road. The suspected herdsmen also attacked four communities in Gwer West LGA, including the village of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, killing 42 persons including a police officer. The villagers say the attacks were unprovoked.
Tales of terror and horror
Right now, the Ultra Modern International Market, Makurdi, now converted to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, is where the survivors of the Yelwata killings are currently taking refuge. Here, despair and anguish hang in the air. Thousands of displaced residents, including women – some pregnant, others breastfeeding mothers – and children, populate the place.
Many are sick and hungry, with nothing to call their own, not knowing where or when the next meal would come from.
The scenario is worse at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital BSUTH Makurdi where the injured are receiving treatment. The female, male and children’s ward had people with various degrees of injuries from attacks carried out by the suspected herdsmen in Yelwata and other places.
When this reporter visited the hospital, along Gboko Road, Makurdi, Mrs Magdalene Apeiluior, one of the victims, was in so much pain and in tears. At the sight of his son, Cosmas Apeiluior who walked in with this reporter, she cried louder, lamenting and asking God why He has allowed such faith to befall them.
Then she kept asking the son: “Where is your sister? Where is your sister? You used to call her your handbag, now you have come to see me without your handbag. Where is your sister?” And her wails grew even louder.
Mama Apeiluior is one of the victims of the Yelwata massacre, but she survived the attacks. She was shot on the right side of her chest, just a bit below the breast. She has a pipe placed through the wound from where blood-like liquid drips. But her son said she was responding to treatment even as she is still traumatised.
Narrating the family’s ordeal to Saturday Sun, Cosmas said: “We were already sleeping on that faithful day. Then,about 12:am, we started hearing gunshots very close to us. Then we learnt that it was herdsmen who came to attack our village.
“They were so many in number and they seemed to have surrounded the whole place. So everyone started running to safety. Some of us ran to St. Joseph Catholic Church to hide and others hid in RCM Primary chool Yelwata. We were lucky because some police officers and soldiers were beside us to safeguard us, so they left us and ran to the market square where there were no much security. Then they succeeded in killing so many people.
“My younger sister was affected. She was killed by the herdsmen in the store; her body was burnt to ashes. She was with my mother when this incident happened and since then, my mother has not recovered from the shock.”
He stated that when the gunmen went inside and began to kill people, some of the villagers climbed up to the roof of the house. “But after killing those that were down, they used their torches to see if people were up. That was when they saw my mother on the roof and shot her. They thought she would fall to her death but she didn’t fall. That was how she escaped. But my sister Doose Vivian Apeluior, who was just 14 years, a JSS 2 Student was killed. She could not escape because she was too small. They burnt her.
“Doose wanted to be a nurse in future. I also read a medical course and I had hoped that I would establish a hospital in the future so that we can work together and care for the sick.”
He also explained why the mother was hysterical on sighting him at the ward saying “We were once attacked, and myself and my late younger sister left to Gwer West LGA to take refuge. Each time I came back to see her, I always came with my sister Doose. So seeing me now alone, she was asking me where is my sister, that I used to tell her that we go about together because she is my handbag. So seeing me without her now made her cry more and more.”
He also explained that the family of Apeiluior originally hails from Tse Tor, Branch Udei in Guma LGA .The village, he said, which is close to Yelwata, is also dreaded after herdsmen had sacked them a long time ago via several attacks. “That is why we came to Yelwata since March 2025 to take refuge. We usually go back to our village every morning to go and farm but return in the evening to sleep at Yelwata because we felt it was safer.
“Right now we are stranded and we don’t know where to go. We have a house in North Bank but the place is also not safe.
“We want the government to stop the herdsmen from invading our communities so we can go back and restart our lives.”
Hembafan Lamaondo is a mother of four. While she is suffering from multiple machete cuts, her child is also being treated at the children’s ward. She told this reporter how she cheated death after the terrorists missed cutting her neck.
“I can’t believe my eyes when they positioned me and aimed for my neck. After they cut me several places, I used the last strength in me to get myself out of their grip. I ran and climbed an a mango tree. I only came down in the morning,” she said.
Eunice Abela, another victim simply said: “They beheaded my child. He was just three years old. He has never offended anyone before. But the Fulani herders killed my child. They took my baby from my hands, he was crying and they cut off his head.” Abela didn’t say a word again. Her pain was felt by other patients and their visitors.
For Angela Tarbo, life cannot remain the same again. As she sat on the hospital bed looking into an empty space, with burns and machete cuts all over her body, Angela writhed in pain. She was being fed at the time of the visit. Her caregiver said she was in so much discomfort, as she couldn’t lie on her back due to burns she sustained from the fire.
While she narrated her horrible experience in the hands of the arsonists, Angela could hardly move a muscle in any part of her body. She spoke very slowly. Her words: “We were sleeping because it was during the night. Rain was falling. We heard some sounds, thinking it was thunder, not knowing it was gunshots.
“Suddenly, the herdsmen began to break into shops and they were a lot of people. They started shooting and slaughtering people. When they reached me, they cut me on my head and my hand with cutlass and poured petrol on the shop.
“Then they set the store on fire and I struggled to escape with fire on my body. So many of my neighbours were also affected seriously and some died. I thank God I’m alive.”
Fourteen-year-old Martha Orpin, a native of Naka in Gwer West LGA said she was attacked along the University of Agriculture Road at Akondoughtough. She said “On that day we were sleeping – me, my mum and elder sister – when I heard some noise. I woke my elder sister. Then we saw some torch being flashed into our bedroom.
“Then they started breaking the glasses on our windows and we quickly ran to the parlour to meet my mum. Then the herdsmen broke the door and came inside with cutlass in their hands.
“They started using it to hit me on my waist, but I quickly covered my mum with a blanket and my mum was begging them to spare our lives and not to kill anybody. They asked my mum if she would give them money and my mum said yes. And as she was going to bring the money, one of them stabbed me on my belly and my intestines came out. I was bleeding while my sister was under the bed. I was just there.
“My mum showed them all the money she had made through the sales of snails that day, N39,000. She didn’t know that such a thing had happened because I didn’t scream. I was bleeding, our mattress was soaked with blood.
“Then another one asked if we had android phone. My sister asked my mum to give them her phone. When my mother went to being the phone, one of them wanted to cut me again but the other person said no, he should leave me. So they took the phone and left. They were 13. They went to my brother’s room but thank God he had already escaped. They were all wearing black and some of them covered their faces.”
Since then, Martha said the sound of any little thing startles her. “Even in the hospital here, sometimes I keep hearing imaginary sounds of glasses shattering and it scares me a lot.”
Heartrending stories from IDP camps
Felix Chitamen, a farmer and businessman, said it’s a night he would never forget. While he stood at the International Market IDP camp, you could tell, from his facial expression, that he doesn’t like it there. He lamented how he lost 26 members of his family.
Felix, who hails from Yelwata, narrated: “Around 10:00pm, we heard gunshots in the area. That was when the attack started. They were burning people who were sleeping in the store close to the main road where we used to sell things. People were crying.
“They came in three groups – some with guns, some with cutlass and some with other weapons. The attack lasted about four hours. People were running up and down, and when they were done, they left.
“A lot of people died. Over 200 people were killed through gunshots, aside those that died through burning. I escaped narrowly. My house was close to my neighbour’s house where they were killing people. So I ran out quickly before they could reach my house.
“While they were carrying out the attacks, the herdsmen were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’ It was like their slogan. All our belongings were burnt to ashes. We only survived with the clothes we are putting on now.
“They also killed my maternal family members from Astor village – 26 of them. They came to Yelwata to seek refuge and they were killed.
“I want the government to try and bring security for us so we can move freely and go back to our houses to continue with farming. The food they are giving us here cannot sustain us. So we need to go back and work more.”
Terkula Terdoo is from from Tse Mtswenem at the North Bank community. He recalled what happened on the day of the attack. “The herdsmen came at night, about 12 to 12:30am. They killed my grandfather, Kator Aheen Uluva, Uluva Abla and junior brother, Nensha Aheen.
They also slaughtered five of our neighbours and others sustained injuries from the cutlasses in their hands. They also killed people in the neighbouring village, before coming to attack us.
“After the attack, our chairman visited us and promised us medical care, that they would pay hospital bills. But since then we’ve not heard anything and we’ve been buying drugs by ourselves.”
Most of the residents have been displaced. They are in IDP camps with almost nothing.
For Mrs Catherine Julius, also from Yelwata with five children, she is confused and heartbroken. According to her, since the incident last Saturday, she has not seen or heard from her husband. She had just put to bed on Thursday, two days before the attack. Normally, she is supposed to be at home where she would be assisted with the baby and taken care of. She said her escape, along with her children, was a miracle.
“I was not feeling too well from the pains of labour, so that night I was kind of restless. We were sleeping, then I started hearing gunshots. I woke my husband up and asked him, did you hear what I’m hearing?
“He quickly woke up and listened for a few seconds and went to peep through the window. He came back and told me they were attackers. At that time, there was no way to run out. The whole place was surrounded. We were still inside hearing gunshots and people crying, and I was just praying and sayng “Aondo wase se. Aonda wa m, wase se” meaning God help us, My God help us.
“Then after some time the police came and they ran away. That was when we were able to come out. By evening, the governor sent vehicles that conveyed us to this camp. I need to find my husband. I am still begging God that brought us out safely to help me find him alive.
“We want security so we can go back to our villages. We used to feel safe in our villages but not anymore. The government should come and help us. Almost all our brothers and sisters have been killed. We are burying our children every day. This is not good.” Ngunengen Aondoakaa had also put to bed a week to the incident. The mother of five had a plastic basin in her hand. As she walked towards the water tank, her three-year-old baby trailed behind, crying. She also was seen hold her last child who was just one week old.
Mrs Aondoakaa said she had put to bed on Monday June 9, about five days before the attack. She said: “We were sleeping, and around 12 am, Fulani people came to our community and attacked us. We came here with nothing; no food, no money. See the children crying; they are hungry. See me breastfeeding. They bring food here, but it’s not enough. I should be in my house not here. Government should do something,” she pleaded
Another inmate, Janet Terlumun, a pregnant woman, narrated how she escaped miraculously from the incident. She said: “In the midnight, about 12 am, Fulani people came and attacked us and they killed many of our people.
“They burnt them in the stores. We used to leave our houses to come and sleep inside the stores because we thought that since it was close to the market and police people were there, we would be safe, yet they attacked us.”
Madam Terlumun said she lost one of her uncles who she identified as Mr Jornyi and his family. “My uncle, his two wives and six children were all burnt to death,” she said.
Agencies, groups rally round IDPs
At the camp, our correspondent observed the presence of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) working with other international agencies like the UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM, The Red Cross Society of Nigeria, FJDP, as well as other organisations and private individuals.
An official who didn’t want to be named told Saturday Sun that the organisations were on ground rendering several services to the IDPs ranging from child protection support, Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention, human trafficking sensitization, counselling and psycho social support, and distribution of core relief items while other partners were providing safety and security with the camp management.
A medical doctor, Augusta Amaechi, from Benue State Primary Healthcare Board (BSPHCB) said the board, in collaboration with UNICEF and other partners were providing out-patient services and stabilising those needing emergency services. She said: “We kicked started on Tuesday, working hand in hand with Red Cross officers. We have been treating victims with cases of pelvic inflammatory disease (female) and for the children, some are coming down with malaria, high fever, among other ailments.”
Good spirited individuals and organisations have been visiting the camp to donate relief items to the IDPs. The Benue State government through the management of Benue Investment Property Company (BIPC) Limited, has donated bread and water which they would do every three days, Benue Links transport company provided logistics for evacuation of IDPs while the Ministry for Trade and Investment ensured that market was made available for their accommodation.
