Yelwata attack: I Lost 12 relatives in one night – Benue farmer recount horror

For 52-year-old farmer Thomas Iorya, the scars of the Yelewata massacre run far deeper than the bullet holes and burnt rooftops that now litter the once-thriving farming community on the Benue-Nasarawa border.

Sitting quietly at the temporary IDP camp in Makurdi, he fights back tears as he recounts how he lost 12 members of his extended family in a single, bloody night.

“That night, it was raining heavily,” Iorya said, his voice trembling. “Just after the rain stopped, around 11pm, we started hearing gunshots – not one or two, but from every direction. The gunmen came like shadows in the dark, dressed in military camouflage. They poured petrol on houses, locked people inside, and set them on fire.”

Yelewata, located in Guma Local Government Area, had long been a place of refuge for displaced Tiv people fleeing previous attacks from suspected Fulani herdsmen in Nasarawa State. Iorya, like many others, believed the military presence at the nearby LGEA Primary School would deter any attack. It didn’t. That school is where he happened to sleep that night – a decision that saved his life.

“I give God the glory that I was not at home. I would be among the dead. But 12 of my relatives—my cousins, their children, even a pregnant woman—were all killed. Some were burnt beyond recognition. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” he said, his eyes swollen from weeping.