Benue Christian community in ruins 6 months after genocidal attack by Fulani militia
By Ebere Inyama
Benue State, Nigeria—An eerie wave of silence and a crowd filled with sad faces met TruthNigeria at Yelewata, Benue state on Sunday 23 November, 2025.
Nearly six months after a deadly attack by the Fulani ethnic militia claimed the lives of 258 persons in Yelwatta, a small Christian community in Benue state, survivors are still homeless and living in fear.
Speaking during an interview with TruthNigeria Sunday, a kindred head in Yelewata, Chief Clement Yoshe, said the people of Yelewata are yet to overcome the trauma which they experienced as a result of the genocidal attack on the community on June 13, 2025.
“As you are all aware, a genocide took place here in Yelewata on the 13th of June, 2025,” Yoshe began during the interview with TruthNigeria.
“People were massacred, burnt to ashes and when we took the statistics the following day, we discovered that the number of people that were killed is 258”, he continued.
“The situation is unbearable and the people that have been attacking us are Fulani herdsmen.
“Their mission is to drive us away from this place and then take over our land.
“We are finding it difficult to feed now because our crops have been eaten up by their cattle.
“Our women cannot go half a kilometer to fetch firewood or water without the military escorting them.
“If you come here in the night, you will discover that most of the women sleep outside while some take refuge in the church here”, he added.
Also speaking to TruthNigeria, a survivor of the June 13 massacre at Yelewata, Mrs. Christians Aga, said that since 13 June 2025 when her community, Yelewata, was attacked by the Fulani militia, they have not been able to go back to their homes.
“We have been sleeping in open spaces and in churches”, Mrs. Aga told TruthNigeria.
“We lost our loved ones, and we do not have enough clothes to wear”, she continued. “Our children are no longer attending school and there are no hospitals near us where we can get medical attention.
“We are praying that God would provide people who would come to our aid”, she added.
EU Filmmaker visited scene of Yelewata attacks, Protests held in Spain against the genocide of Nigeria’s Christians
Moved by reports of Christian genocide in Nigeria published on TruthNigeria’s website, a missionary and movie producer from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Anja Grubacic, on 23 November, 2025, visited the scene of attacks at Yelewata.
Grubacic commiserated with the survivors of the attack and donated some money to them to help ease their suffering and encouraged them to remain steadfast in their faith in God. She assured them that her team would drum up support for them from her home country, Bosnia as well as other European countries.
“We have witnessed your sufferings, and we urge you to remain strong in your faith in God”, Grubacic said.
“When we go back home, we shall tell your stories to our friends in Europe and I believe that in no distant time, help will come your way and your suffering will be alleviated,” she added.
The campaign against the persecution of Christians in Nigeria spread to Madrid on Saturday 29 November, 2025 as hundreds of people protested in front of the Nigerian embassy in Spain over the kidnapping of 303 school children and 12 teachers from the St. Mary’s Private Catholic school in Niger State about a week ago.
Speaking during the protest, the president of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Christiana Wariboko, called on the international community to intervene.
“We are calling on the international body to please do something and intervene as it regards the killing of Nigerian Christians”, she said.
An endless wave of violence against Nigerian Christians
According to a statement released on Sunday by the spokesman for the Christian Association of Nigeria (C.A.N), Niger State chapter, Most Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, “253 children – including 250 students from the school and three children belonging to school staff members – and 12 teachers remain captive, while 50 pupils escaped between Friday and Saturday and have reunited with their parents as they could not return to the school after they escaped,”
The students are both male and female, some as young as ten years old.
At least 10 school kidnappings involving 670 children have occurred across Nigeria since January 2024, according to Save the Children’s analysis of media reports and data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
Many of the students were taken either in or on their way to school, Save the Children reported, adding that the attacks could have long-term consequences on education if they become “a dangerous norm.”
Catholic bishops express concern
In a statement on Tuesday 25 November, 2025, titled, “Peace In Nigeria: Moving from Fragility To Stability,” the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) demanded an investigation into the reports of delayed or withheld security responses in some of the affected areas of the country.
“In some instances, there have been disturbing reports of delayed or withheld security responses, giving the impression of possible collusion or a lack of will to act,” the bishops wrote.
“The near-total destruction and occupation of some communities, and the continued attacks on displaced persons even in camps, have deepened the people’s sense of abandonment and despair. Such prolonged unbearable conditions have given credence to allegations of ‘genocide’ in some quarters,” the statement continued.
“The deplorable security situation in our nation Nigeria and the ongoing discourse heating up the nation’s fragile social and religious climate are truly worrisome. More deeply painful is the persistent violence that has claimed countless lives, destroyed homes, and displaced families,” the statement added.
The current president of Nigeria, Mr. Bola Tinubu, has faced criticism for the lack of a national effort to stop the persecution of Christians, prompting the U.S. President Donald Trump to name Nigeria a “country of particular concern” – a U.S. declaration for nations it says fail to act on religious freedom violations.
Ebere Inyama reports on conflict for TruthNigeria
