On the night of June 14, 2025, suspected armed herders stormed the quiet Yelewata agrarian community of Guma Local Government Area, Benue State around 10:00 p.m., setting homes ablaze and gunning down villagers in their sleep.
AFRIPOST reports that by dawn, over 100 people were feared dead, with other media houses, including rights watchdog, Amnesty International, confirming the horror.
Eyewitness reported to journalists that charred bodies lay across the village, some still clinging to the remains of what used to be their homes. Survivors spoke of locked doors, burning rooms, and children trapped in the flames.
“They came like ghosts, armed with guns, petrol and fire. We heard cries, but we couldn’t help. The fire had already consumed half the village,” a survivor narrated to critic and activist, VeryDarkMan.
This is not an isolated tragedy. Just days earlier, communities in Gwer West and Apa LGAs also came under attack.
Gunmen, believed to be the same armed group (herdsmen) left at least 20 people dead and several others wounded.
Five were confirmed to be receiving treatment, while local leaders said the real figures could be far higher.
The pattern of neglect as killings spread in Benue
Benue State, once hailed as the “food basket of the nation,” has become a battlefield for survival.
Years of tension between local farmers and nomadic herders have escalated into routine bloodshed.
At the heart of the conflict lies the struggle for land, grazing routes, and water, now intensified by climate pressures and population growth.
Yet, as the bodies pile up, the silence from those in power grows louder.
“The security agencies know what to do, but they are not being properly supported or directed,” said a local community leader who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.
While police authorities confirmed the latest killings, they refrained from releasing casualty figures.
Meanwhile, the state government, under Governor Hyacinth Alia, sent a delegation to assess the damage and console the bereaved, but for many villagers, it was too little, too late.
Where is the king?
In a state plagued by violence, residents say what hurts most is the feeling of abandonment. Yelewata has been attacked before. So have many other rural communities.
Yet the response remains painfully predictable: condemnations, visits, compensations and promises, followed by more silence until the next massacre.
“It’s not just the bullets that are killing us. It’s the hopelessness,” said a grieving father who lost his wife and two children in the Yelewata attack.
Amnesty International called the Yelewata massacre one of the deadliest acts of violence in recent memory and urged the government to “act decisively and ensure justice for victims.”
Still, questions linger about how heavily armed assailants moved freely, attacked a village for hours, and disappeared, again.
Leaders speak, but is anyone listening?
The killings in Benue have triggered a wave of national outrage and currently a protest by concerned youths of the State and Nigeria in general.
Political leaders have spoken, but for many, it feels like another round of speeches without substance.
Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, expressed deep sorrow:
“Life is sacred… Our communities are crumbling before us, and our humanity is being diminished. We must not become numb to this carnage.”
He called on the federal government to urgently reform its security architecture and uphold its duty to protect every Nigerian, regardless of region or ethnicity.
Similarly, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar decried the Yelewata killings, describing them as a tragic symbol of leadership failure.
“The government has continued to play the ostrich while the nation is plagued by insecurity. These massacres are not just statistics, they are lives, dreams, and futures wiped out. I stand in solidarity with my fellow citizens in Benue.”
Both Obi and Atiku urged urgent national action, warning that the country risks descending into anarchy if nothing changes.
A crisis beyond bullets
A security expert and policy analyst say the situation in Benue is the result of deeper systemic failings.
According to security analyst and political commentator Steven Chimezie, the herder-farmer conflict is driven by ecological shifts and governance lapses:
“Conflicts in Nigeria don’t always begin with religious motives… but once it turns into disagreement between ethnic groups, it very quickly involves religion.
“Desertification and land scarcity are forcing herders southward into farmlands. The state hasn’t created viable grazing alternatives.”
Chimezie told AFRIPOST that while the Tinubu administration has prioritized defence reforms on paper, the practical impact remains weak:
“There’s been an increase in military funding and appointments, but that hasn’t translated into results on the ground. Villages are still being razed. People are still dying in their sleep.”
The aftermath
In the wake of the massacre, hundreds have fled their homes, seeking refuge in nearby towns or displacement camps.
The few who remain behind are trying to bury the dead, piece together what’s left of their lives, and survive with no assurance that they won’t be next.
Some humanitarian groups have stepped in to offer food and shelter, but the need far outweighs the help available.
Children are traumatized. Entire families have been wiped out. And the sense of abandonment continues to fester.
A bleeding state, a sleeping nation
Benue’s tragedy, to many is not just a local disaster; it’s a national shame. The killings expose the dangerous cracks in Nigeria’s internal security and rural protection.
While high-level politics dominates the national discourse, communities like Yelewata are left to their fate.