Benue Massacre: Survivors Reveal Ethnic Cleansing as Experts Blame Government Inaction
By Okafor Joseph Afam | Published July 11, 2025 | Springnewsng
Benue State, Nigeria – Survivors of the brutal June 13 attacks on the Yelewata and Daudu communities in Guma Local Government Area have shared chilling testimonies of mass killings, as experts raise the alarm over what they describe as ongoing ethnic cleansing in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
One survivor, Joseph Kwagh, recounted how armed gunmen stormed his village during heavy rainfall, killing eight members of his family and setting homes ablaze.
“They shot everyone they saw and burned down every house,” Kwagh told a grief-stricken audience.
Another survivor, Jerry Ayem, described how the attackers broke into his home around 10 p.m.
“They fired their guns and broke our door down. My mother and children were hacked to death with machetes,” he said, visibly shaken by the memories.
David Ukeyima, bearing deep machete wounds, explained how his home was surrounded and torched. His wife and three children perished in the flames as they tried to escape.
“They used fire to flush us out. My family didn’t make it,” he said.
Experts Say Attacks Are Genocidal
Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, co-founder of Sesor, a humanitarian NGO, condemned the federal government’s failure to protect innocent civilians.
“This is not a clash between herders and farmers. These are coordinated attacks—this is ethnic cleansing,” she said.
According to her, Sesor has tracked over 622 attacks in Benue since 2009, with more than 1,100 people killed in the last two years alone. Over two million people have been displaced, she said, threatening Nigeria’s national food security.
“Section 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution says the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government. But justice has been absent. Without justice, there can be no peace,” she stated.
‘Attackers Are Foreign Fighters’
Denen Gbobgbon, president of the United Farmers Association in the Benue Valley, dismissed the narrative of local conflicts.
“These attackers are not local herders. They are foreign elements armed with military-grade weapons. This is an invasion, not a misunderstanding,” he asserted.
As outrage grows, human rights advocates continue to call for urgent intervention, justice for victims, and greater protection for communities under siege in Benue and across the Middle Belt.
