The tranquil farming community of Yelewata in Benue State was devastated by a brutal herdsmen attack on June 13-14, 2025, leaving over 300 dead and prompting accusations of government inaction and underreporting of casualties

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he people of Yelewata, a quiet farming settlement along the Abuja-Makurdi highway in Benue State, will forever remember June 13-14, 2025, as the darkest chapter in their history.

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On that harrowing Friday night into Saturday morning, residents awoke to the deafening crackle of gunfire, the glow of burning homes and stores, and the horrifying cries of children being hacked, shot, or burnt alive by suspected armed herdsmen.

By dawn on Saturday, June 14, over 300 lives had been cut short, hundreds of homes reduced to ashes, and the town’s once-thriving heartbeat silenced by grief. Survivors and residents describe this as the single deadliest massacre in Benue’s recent history.

For a community known for nothing but quiet labor on their ancestral farmlands, this carnage was not just shocking; it was soul-shattering.

“It was like a war. In my 57 years on earth, I’ve never witnessed this. I escaped with my third son. My wife and other children were not so lucky. My world ended that Friday night,” said Elder Amos, his voice trembling.

The attack, widely believed by survivors to be a planned and coordinated onslaught, occurred amid rising tensions between local Benue farmers and herders in the region.

Weeks prior, traditional rulers across Tiv and Idoma lands had issued a directive for all herders to vacate their lands by the end of May due to recurring violence and farmland destruction.

That ultimatum was never enforced, with devastating consequences in Yelewata. Similar attacks had also recently occurred in Edikwu-Ankpali in Apa and the Tyoshin community in Naka, Gwer East LGA.

Each of the over 300 lives lost represents a unique story, a family, a legacy cut short. Among the victims was Pharmacist Matthew Iormba, a brilliant young man who, after being denied medical admission twice, graduated with distinction in Pharmacy.

He had just returned home from his housemanship in Kano the night before the attack, only to be burnt alive.

Then there was Tsegba Lucy, a young girl whose house was set ablaze, claiming the lives of her mother and five siblings. “My beloved mum and beautiful sisters. Go well till we meet again. I love you, but God loves you more. I can’t stop crying. Kai, God, you do me strong thing,” she mourned.

Another survivor, a local footballer named Agande, returned from a match in Makurdi to find both his parents and 10 family members burnt beyond recognition. “They gave me everything. And now they’re gone, killed by people they never offended,” he lamented.

Homes were razed, farm produce incinerated, and personal belongings like family photographs and children’s school books turned to soot.

Days after the attack, charred remains of bodies still lie unburied, and smoke continues to rise from crumbled rooftops.

Franc Utoo, a lawyer-cum-politician and Yelewata native, is among those struggling to recover, having lost over 33 extended family members and more than 50 political supporters.

He provided a chilling account to DAILY POST, revealing that residents were aware of the planned attack and had relocated at night to various communal safe havens like schools, market squares, and churches within Yelewata.

“Those guys have started plotting the attack before that day,” Utoo explained. “We were aware of the plot that they might invade our town from Obi, Doma or Keana LGAs in Nasarawa State through Giza or Kadarko. So we got intelligence about what was going to happen.” Despite informing law enforcement, he said, “nothing happened.”

He detailed how, on the rainy night of June 13 around 10 pm, the attackers initially targeted the RCM Primary School, which housed about a thousand displaced residents, along with the church and market where others sought refuge.

“That’s why, if you see the visuals of the burnt stores, you see a lot of skulls. Because some people may be wondering why a lot of people were in a store? That is because people leave their homes in the evening for fear of this attack. To sleep in the store so they can go back in the morning,” Utoo clarified.

He further stated that the attackers divided into groups, diverting attention while other groups targeted the Yelewata New Market, which suffered the majority of casualties.

The tragedy has been compounded by official accounts that have, in the community’s view, “added insult to their wounds.”

While Governor Hyacinth Alia announced, following a panel report, that only 59 people died, local sources vehemently reject this, accusing the state government of deliberately underreporting the attack.

“We lost over 300 people. Children were burnt to ashes. In some places, entire families were wiped out. If anyone tells you it’s 59, they’re lying.

A family here lost over 40 members alone,” asserted Samson, a youth leader in Daudu. Utoo confirmed, “In my family alone, they killed over 33 people. So different families, this family with about 20-something, that family with 30, so right now, even the government is underreporting the number grossly. I have names of about, at the last count, about 132 or so that were killed. That is the ones we know. The ones we don’t know are also equal to that number.”

President Bola Tinubu, through his media adviser Bayo Onanuga, described the killings as “reprisal attacks,” a comment that shocked residents and activists alike.

Governor Alia, speaking to Channels Television, echoed this sentiment, suggesting the attackers used known routes and implying retaliation.

Utoo strongly faulted the presidential spokesman’s claim. “I read a statement by President Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga on the attack, and that was the most unfortunate presidential comment I’ve ever seen in history,” he said.

“From the beginning of that statement to the end, there was nowhere he mentioned the two most important things: arresting the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. Nowhere. He was concentrating on reconciliation. He was addressing us as warring parties. Which war are we fighting? So it’s very unfortunate that a president could say something like this. He never even talked about providing relief to those who survived or assisting those who are grieving.”

Contrarily, the Federal Government, through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, admitted that over 200 people had died, a figure that still falls short of the community’s assessment of the destruction.

For the people of Yelewata, the government’s slow and cold response is perceived as a profound betrayal. Governor Alia reportedly waited over 48 hours to comment on the killings, sparking public outrage.

“We expected him to come here. To mourn with us. Even if he had nothing to offer, he could at least show sympathy. But he stayed silent and then downplayed our pain,” lamented Tever Japhet, a community leader.

While the Benue Police Commissioner and Deputy Governor reportedly made a brief visit, community members claimed they left hurriedly without engaging survivors or offering aid.

Further compounding the heartbreak, security operatives swiftly dispersed protests in Makurdi by angry youths, including activist Vincent Otse, demanding justice.

Tear gas, arrests of 14 persons, and intimidation met demonstrators who simply asked: “Why are we being killed with impunity?”

The horror in Yelewata has ignited national and international outrage, with condemnations pouring in from across Nigeria and the globe.

Pope Leo XIV, in a Sunday address from Rome, described the attack as a “terrible massacre,” calling for justice, protection, and peace for rural Christian communities in Benue and across Nigeria.

Fanen Chii
Doom Chii
Terzungwe Chii
Edeember Uke
Aondodoo Uke
Adohi Dooga
Mbanyiar Dooga
Ikyoche Dooga
Awanboi Dooga
Regina Dooga
Adoo Dooga
Aondofa Dooga
Mathew Iormba
Apam Iormba
Philomena Iormba
Akama Iormba
Ngodoo Iormba
Kumawues Iormba
Nensha Iormba
Victoria Tsegba
Ngodoo Tsegba
Mimidoo Tsegba
Dorathy Tsegba
Msendoo Tsegba
Iorgyer Kyule
Ute Dooga
Shaadye Koornam
Sewuese Iorember
Dooshima Aondoana
Agbogo Aondoana
Erdoo Aondoana
Orsoja Ikpakyaa
Injinia Ikpakyaa
Chia Orshio
Uyina Orshio
Katie Orshio
Myuega Orshio
Usha Orshio
Philomena Orshio
Alia Orshio
Lydia Ajah
Terdoo Ajah
Iwuese Ajah
Orbuter Anya
Terzungwe Akpen
Aondohemba Akpen
Ushana Akpen
Shater Akpen
Mercy Akpen
Isaac Akpen
Doowuese Ugbah
Ngodoo Ugba
Manta Simon
Manta Laadi
Manta Iwuese
Doose Asoo
Aondosoo Asoo
Terlumun Fidelis
Yakov Shagwa
Margaret Shagwa
Erdoo Shagwa
Dooauur Shagwa
Sewuese Shagwa
Logo Ukô
Eunice Tyokuwa
Jude Aza
Kwaghhar Ordue
Doosuur Ordue
Terngu Nongotse
Msugh Nongotse
Dooshima Nongotse
Orlogbo Lamaaondo
Laadi Lamaaondo
Awan Shiôr
Aondohemba Ucha
Bonashe Uzer
Amaki Dende
Angbiandoo Dende
Festus Amaki
Mbaufe Ubi
Matthew Uto
Doopinen Uto
Kumater Uto
Terhile Uto
Versuwe Zerkohol
Mbakeren Aondovihi
Monday Aondovihi
Erdoo Aondovihi
Joe Aondovihi
Mwarga Aondovihi
Felicia Gwabo
Mary Gwabo
Terhemba Gwabo
Jirgema Gwabo
Mercy Dende
Lubem Dende
Uwundu Iorhemen
Gabriel Fide
Aondoana Fide
Ukese Fide
Averter Fide
Mwaraorga Fide
Terkimbir Solomon
Amina Kongo
Terkula Kongo
Doose Asoo
Aboi Asoo
Shater Amaki
Lumunga Gbem
Doose Ayom
Mama Mfanyi
Samson Uke
Aboi Korna
Aondoawase Lamaaondo
Ormbagba Utim
Mermber Lamaaondo
Doose Ordue
Torsaar Adam
Doose Adam
Nguyilan Adam
Terver Ucha
Agon Ucha
Aondohemba Ucha
Atuur Asom
Uvershigh Asom
Nongo Ulam
Aondoaver Ulam.

Yelewata is currently a graveyard of grief and questions. Survivors are still burying their dead and searching for missing family members.

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The pressing question on everyone’s lips is: Will Yelewata ever truly recover from this carnage? This is a question begging for an answer, one that even time may struggle to provide. Indeed, it was an attack, too many.