Genocide Horror in Nigeria: Over 100 Christians Slaughtered in Yelwata Massacre, President Tinubu Demands Action Against Fulani Terrorists!
Photo credit - The Christian Post
Following a brutal attack that killed over 100 people in Yelwata, a mostly Christian village in Benue state, Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu urged security forces to act decisively against the perpetrators. However, at a meeting in Makurdi attended by Tinubu, the Tiv tribe’s paramount ruler, James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse, clarified that the June 13-14 massacre was not a simple herder-farmer dispute, as often described by officials and academics.
Instead, Ayatse called it a deliberate, organized “genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign” by heavily armed herder terrorists.
Ayatse emphasized that these attacks, targeting defenseless Tiv and Idoma communities, are not sectarian or retaliatory but part of a calculated war. He criticized the “herder-farmer clash” narrative, noting that armed Fulani herdsmen’s assaults on unarmed farmers contradict claims of mere grazing disputes.
Tinubu, without visiting Yelwata, pressed security leaders in Makurdi to apprehend the attackers, questioning the lack of arrests and demanding better intelligence and military coordination to stop the violence.
Survivors in Yelwata, where mostly women and children were killed, described attackers shouting “Allahu Akbar” as they burned buildings and mutilated victims. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported that the assailants, identified as Fulani militia, first targeted a mission site housing over 400 displaced people but were repelled by soldiers before attacking the village’s market. Estimates suggest the death toll could reach 200. The attack followed other recent violence in Guma County, including killings on June 8, 11, and 12.
CSW noted that from April to June, 270 people were killed in Benue, with over 5,700 deaths and 150,000 displacements since 2011. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) renewed its call for Nigeria to be labeled a Country of Particular Concern for failing to protect religious communities, urging U.S. aid to focus on conflict resolution and security training.
Residents and reports from Aid to the Church in Need described the attackers targeting displaced families in Yelwata’s market square, setting fires and using machetes. While most Fulani in Nigeria are not extremists, some adhere to radical Islamist ideologies, targeting Christians to seize land amid desertification challenges, according to the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group.
Nigeria ranks seventh on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, with 3,100 of 4,476 global Christian deaths occurring there. The report highlights relentless violence by Fulani militias, Boko Haram, ISWAP, and the emerging Lakurawa group, spreading terror from northern to southern states. Abductions and attacks on Christian communities remain rampant, with weak government control exacerbating the crisis.