Eyewitnesses Contradict Narrative of Army Chief about Decoy Attack
By TruthNigeria Staff
(Yelewata) Military and police in Yelewata did not leave their shelters to repulse radicalized Fulani militia murdering and burning unarmed people on June 14, TruthNigeria has learned after interviewing eyewitnesses. When the attacking force retreated at approximately 2:00 a.m., they left behind more than 200 corpses, many burned beyond recognition.
Nigerian army and police personnel remained stationary throughout the four-hour assault, firing warning shots into the air but never advancing toward the attackers, according to Yelewata eyewitnesses speaking to TruthNigeria.
Since army spokesman have said little about the chronology of the attack, the facts have been gathered from survivors and Yelewata natives in the United States who are in touch with their relatives.
Some facts remain murky, but the handful of soldiers and police defending the town on June 13 were greatly outnumbered.
Local resident Moses Shishimai expressed his frustration: “The police and army didn’t come out to help us. They were firing into the air and in our direction, but they never advanced. Maybe it was their gunfire that kept the attackers from storming the church and school.” He speculated that the troops were possibly outnumbered and unprepared to confront such a large militia force.
“The attackers were more than 200, and the security men couldn’t have been more than 50,” he said.
A reinforced gun position at a primary school next to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was staffed by 10 soldiers, according to some locals, whereas the actual number was no more than four, according to Franc Utoo, a Yelewata native who lives in Oklahoma and who is in constant contact with his surviving relatives.
Police in Yelewata initially repelled the swarming attackers when they stormed the village at 10 p.m. on Friday, June 13, according to Independent Catholic News. The gun position was ringed by truck tires behind barbed wire and is within sight of the village market area where most of the victims were sheltering for the night.
False Intelligence and a Diverted Response
In a public statement, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, disclosed that troops were redirected due to a decoy attack in another village.
“There was a fake attack in another village,” General Musa explained. “When troops responded to that, that’s when they struck Yelewata.”
But there are disputed versions of what happened. Utoo told TruthNigeria that the general’s account was a face-saving gesture. “That didn’t happen. There was no separate attack in a nearby village. And worse, Gen. Musa blamed the local people for giving a false tip.”
On the other hand, a Yelewata community leader confirmed there was a decoy attack in an interview with a TruthNigeria investigator.
Villager Adei Fred said that no troop movement was seen before or after the attack. “We didn’t see any major military movement,” Fred said. “During the assault, the soldiers kept shooting toward our direction for nearly two hours. Maybe that helped prevent a bigger massacre,” he added.
Undisputed is that the number of soldiers and police manning stations on June 13 were overwhelmed by the 200 or more attackers, and no backup forces arrived to assist until approximately 5:00 a.m. on June 14. There is also consensus that locals had forewarned the military of an expected invasion.
Washington Human Rights Leader Raises Questions
A human rights scholar at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. reacted to the new revelations in Yelewata with a text message to TruthNigeria.
“The bottom line is that the military failed to effectively protect local
civilians from a brutal jihadi attack, “wrote Nina Shea, senior fellow and director of the Center for Religious Freedom at Hudson Institute.
“The general’s story of a Fulani feint drawing the military unit away from an attack in Yelewata is at odds with eyewitness accounts. An independent investigation is required to prevent further catastrophic military failures that cost hundreds of innocent lives. Is this a question of an inept governance and poor military training or a lack of political? Many in Washington want to know,” Shea wrote.
Military Had Early Warnings of Attacks
Chief Manasseh Aondona, another community leader, told TruthNigeria that the village had raised an alarm to the military days before the attack. “There were rumors that Fulani militia were planning to attack our community, and we informed the military. They told us they were ready. That’s why many villagers and IDPs stayed near the military base and the church.”
Elder Tazar Aloysius Dende, a respected 75-year-old farmer and church elder, said many of the victims were internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had earlier fled similar attacks from surrounding communities. Believing that proximity to the gun position would offer safety, they had settled in large homes closer to the highway.
“Some of the displaced persons stayed in St. Joseph Church, near the checkpoint, but others sheltered in houses about a mile away,” he said. “It was those houses, farther from the police and army, that were hit the hardest.”
Tribal Chief Julius Kumagba Joor, visibly worn by sorrow, recalled the chaos with chilling clarity. “Around 10 p.m., we heard shouting—Allahu Akbar! —from the bush near the market square. Then they came—over 200, maybe 300 armed Fulani men. Some were on motorbikes, others on foot. They stormed the village, shooting without mercy.” According to him more than 210 persons were killed and more than 100 are critically injured while more than 400 houses were completely erased.
The attackers approached from the northeast—specifically from the direction of the villages of Kadarko, Giza, and Keana – all villages situated across the border in Nasarawa State, according to Chief Joor. These communities have long been suspected staging grounds of militia incursions into Benue.
Terrorists Fled to Kwarra Village in Nasarawa
The militants struck with terrifying coordination, targeting scattered homes and farmsteads rather than confronting military positions.
At approximately 1:00 a.m., after over four hours of bloodshed, the militants retreated through the bush, heading northwest into Kwarra, a small village within Nasarawa State, according to local witnesses. Locals heard them continue chanting “Allahu Akbar!” as they escaped under the cover of darkness.
The military has not officially taken questions from TruthNigeria or held a press conference.
No Vigilante or Self-Defense Structure in Place
When asked whether the assailants could have been stopped by community defense forces, Elder Dende shook his head. “We don’t have any functioning vigilante or armed-defense group in Yelewata,” he said. “We are completely exposed.”
This lack of grassroots security has become a glaring vulnerability in many communities across Benue State, where militias operate with impunity and official response is often slow or non-existent.
Yelewata Suspects Arrested
On June 24, Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, announced that 28 suspects had been arrested in connection with the Yelewata massacre.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the IGP said the police were “on the heels: of other suspects who participated in the Yelewata killings that led to the death of 47 persons.” (TruthNigeria has documented the death of 220 persons.)
