A victim of the massacre at Yelwata in Benue state, who happened to escape with bullet wounds, Apai Ortum, confirmed that the killers were armed herdsmen. The attack which took place on June 13, 2025, led to the killing of about 200 people, which he described as persecution in disguise.
The Yelwata massacre survivour narrated that he over-heard the attackers from his hideout in a nearby bush, saying that “today’s massacre is going to be much more compared to those in Southern Kaduna two weeks ago and the one in Riyom in Plateau state and Mokwa in Niger state”.
Some of the hospitalised survivours of the Yelwata massacre confirmed that bandits kingpin like Bello Turji, Sani Dangote, Ardo Jidda, Adamu Gabdo, etc are actively involved in the genocide in the North-central.
Former Senate President David Mark, a retired Brigadier General of the Nigerian Army, re-echoed the former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt.-General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), that the people should defend themselves as the government alone cannot fight insecurity.
The killings in Nigeria are also getting the world’s attention just as the Catholic pontiff Pope Leo XIV condemned the Yelwata massacre and called for decisive action to stem the wave of killings across the country, particularly in Northern Nigeria.