Survivors Accuse Government and Church of Silence as Massacres Escalate
By Segun Onibiyo
Makurdi, Benue State – At dawn on June 14, the rural village of Iwili in Ukum LGA was ambushed. Gunfire shattered the morning calm as armed men described by witnesses as Fulani Ethnic Militias opened fire indiscriminately. By midmorning, more than 40 villagers were dead, their bodies strewn across torched compounds and scorched fields.
“They told us to stay calm,” said Iorver Agera, a father of three. “Now we are burying our children.”
This massacre is not isolated. In the last six months, Benue has endured a relentless wave of bloodshed. From Guma to Agatu, over 6,000 civilians have been killed since January 2025, according to TruthNigeria reports and local officials.
Yet, President Bola Tinubu has not visited the state, declared an emergency, or issued a national broadcast.
By all appearances the President on Sunday (June 15) was taking the bull by the horns, ordering all his Security Chiefs to end the carnage in Benue. “Enough is enough!” huffed the President after a 48-hour silence. But the President immediately came under fire for calling the massacre “a reprisal attack,” according to the Daily Post.
The President did not explain why the attacks were a reprisal, as Daily Post pointed out.
And equally concerning was the sly, slanted language of Tinubu to plant once again the toxic false narrative that has fooled the world for a decade: Benue is in another clash of “warring parties,” which remain unnamed. Why not name the warring parties?
“I have directed the security agencies to act decisively and arrest perpetrators of these evil acts on all sides of the conflict and prosecute them, ” Tinubu was quoted as saying by his media aide, Bayo Onanuga.
“Evil acts on all sides of the conflict?” Let that sentence sink in.
In fact, the 700 homeless, displaced persons sheltering in Yelwata’s Catholic Church on Friday night had no arms whatsoever. The 500 or so starving, displaced persons sheltering with goods inside the marketplace were likewise unarmed, and three hours later, 200 of those unfortunate men, women and children lay dead from machete slashes and bullets from Fulani ethnic militia.
Hudson Institute legal scholar and rights expert Nina Shea denounced the President’s casuistry.
“Continuing their sickening pattern of religiously selective mass murder, Fulani herdsmen killed some 200 defenseless Christians Friday night in Nigeria’s Benue state. That attack was emphatically not a “clash” as described by Amnesty International, the Associated Press and countless Western foreign policy commentators,” Shea wrote in a text to TruthNigeria.
“The attackers came in the dead of night, shouting “Allahu Akhbar,” while shooting the sleeping, unarmed and already-displaced Christian families, including babies. Those Christians ran and did not even return fire in self- defense. To use the term “clash” for this jihadi-style attack is a lie. It is also bad analysis leading to bad policies. An example of the latter is urging “dialogue” to end one-sided slaughter by extremists with murder in their hearts, which is what is being cynically proposed by the passive President Tinubu,” Shea wrote.
A State Under Siege
Benue State, the nation’s agricultural heartland, is now the epicenter of coordinated Fulani Ethnic Militia attacks and land grabbing campaigns. Villages are systematically invaded, civilians slaughtered, and farmlands seized or destroyed. Analysts say this is no longer random violence, but a deliberate strategy of displacement.
In February, more than 60 people were killed across Agatu and Apa Counties (Local Government Areas) in just 48 hours.
In April, 17 villages were overrun, with more than 400 deaths reported by local officials.
The federal government dismissed the numbers as “exaggerated”—but offered no alternative figures, nor evidence.
Governor Hyacinth Alia, a former Catholic priest, has also drawn criticism for what many see as paralysis in the face of ethnic cleansing.
Human Rights Commission Slams Leadership Silence
David Onyilokwu Idah, Director of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) in Abuja, condemned the government’s failure.
“The Nigerian government has turned a blind eye to ethnic cleansing in Benue. There is no political will to stop these killings,” he said. “We’ve documented repeated warnings from local leaders and villagers. Nothing was done. The bloodshed continues.”
Idah also slammed Governor Alia for “playing safe” instead of protecting his people.
“Governor Alia has chosen silence and access to power in Abuja over defending the people who elected him,” Idah said. “He should be on the frontlines demanding a state of emergency. Instead, we get silence, photo-ops, and denial.”
He didn’t spare Nigeria’s Christian leadership either.
“CAN leadership is complicit. They have reports, videos, and testimonies. But they choose to sit on them,” he said. “Why? To protect relationships in the Presidency? To avoid rocking the boat? That’s moral cowardice.”
The Church’s Deafening Silence
Across Nigeria’s major Christian bodies, a troubling silence has taken root:
· The Catholic Church: Only Bishop Matthew Kukah (Sokoto) and Bishop Wilfred Anagbe (Makurdi) have spoken forcefully about the massacres.
· ECWA and CoCIN: Middle-Belt-rooted denominations have issued vague or tepid statements. Insiders cite fear of political reprisal and funding threats from Northern power blocs.
· Assemblies of God, Anglican Church: Total silence. Critics argue their leadership fears losing political proximity in the corridors of power.
“If Nigerian pastors won’t shout, why should the West care?” asked Rev. Terkaa, a U.S.-based ECWA cleric. “Are we waiting until another Rwanda?”
Violence and Suppression
Even peaceful protests have been crushed. In May, after a massacre in Gwer West, hundreds blocked Makurdi roads to demand action. Police responded with tear gas and mass arrests. Drones were reportedly deployed not to track attackers, but to monitor protesters.
A Benue civil rights activist who requested anonymity said: “They mobilize police to stop mourners, but not to stop murderers. Calling these killers ‘unknown gunmen’ is part of the cover-up. Everyone knows who they are.”
Willful Complicity or Incompetence?
Security expert Idah was blunt: “Let’s stop pretending. This is not negligence it’s complicity. Abuja is enabling this slaughter with its silence.”
He cited reports of local officials warning about encroaching militias weeks in advance –warnings that went ignored.
He also criticized CAN’s leadership, saying their refusal to speak out empowers the perpetrators. “CAN’s silence gives the impression that Christian lives in rural Nigeria are disposable,” he said. “They’ve failed their flock. History will judge them.”
As Benue’s skies fill with smoke and its fields with corpses, the question remains: will anyone in power care before it’s too late?
Or as David Idah asks: “If this many were killed in Lagos or Kano, would Abuja still be silent?”
Segun Onibiyo reports on terrorism and conflicts for TruthNigeria.
