Yelwata, Nigeria — June 18, 2025 — A devastating attack by armed gunmen late Friday night has left at least 100 people dead in Yelwata, a community in Nigeria’s Benue State, amid ongoing clashes between herders and farmers in the country’s troubled Middle Belt region.
Among the victims were the wife and four children of 37-year-old farmer Fidelis Adidi, who had been trying to shield his family from the growing violence by renting a room in the local market. When he returned the following morning, he found their charred remains among the blackened rubble.
“My body is weak and my heart keeps racing,” Adidi told Reuters, standing outside the burnt-out room that once housed his family. His second wife and another child were seriously wounded in the same attack.
In the wake of the assault, residents have been left grappling with unimaginable losses, with dozens of bodies burned beyond recognition and food supplies reduced to ash. Images from the scene show scorched grains and destroyed farming tools, marking yet another chapter of grief in a region long plagued by deadly violence.
The attack on Yelwata is one of the deadliest in recent months, reigniting fears over escalating tensions between semi-nomadic herders and farming communities — a conflict exacerbated by climate change, land scarcity, and longstanding ethnic and religious differences.
Rights group Amnesty International has confirmed the death toll to be around 100, describing the killings as part of a “persistent failure of Nigerian authorities to protect civilians in rural communities.”
President Bola Tinubu, who has been in office since 2023, described the upsurge in attacks as “depressing” during a press statement on Monday. He is scheduled to visit Benue State on Wednesday in what will be his first trip to the conflict-hit region since taking office.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has begun coordinating with humanitarian groups to deliver aid to the displaced. Officials say at least 3,000 people have fled their homes and are now in need of urgent assistance, including food, shelter, and medical care.
Among the displaced is Talatu Agauta, a pregnant woman who fled with her young child to the state capital Makurdi as gunfire rang through the night. She returned over the weekend to find her stall and 40 bags of rice burned to ashes.
“This is all I had,” she said, cradling her swollen belly. “But I came back and even if I die here, I don’t mind.”
The attack underscores Nigeria’s worsening security crisis, as communities across the Middle Belt remain vulnerable to banditry, communal conflict, and state neglect. Despite the presence of security forces, many residents say they feel abandoned and defenseless.
As families begin to bury their dead and others search for missing relatives, survivors like Adidi and Agauta are left with the ruins of their lives — and a future clouded by fear and uncertainty.
