A survivor of the June 2025 Yelwata massacre in Benue State, Mrs. Msurshima Apeh, on Thursday narrated before the United States Congress how she watched armed attackers slaughter her five children during the overnight raid on the internally displaced persons’ camp.
Apeh testified virtually before the House Subcommittee on Africa, which examined former U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to return Nigeria to the Country of Particular Concern list over alleged religious persecution.
Speaking from Benue State, the distraught mother recounted how armed men stormed the camp where hundreds of displaced families were sleeping.
“When we went to sleep that night around 9pm, the Fulani terrorists attacked us where we were sleeping. We were locked inside the camp, Yelwata, and they were butchering them with cutlasses and shooting guns as well,” she said.
She added that when the attackers were done “torturing” the victims, “they poured petrol on the building and the majority of them were set ablaze.”
Apeh said she narrowly escaped after climbing a tree while her children cried helplessly below.
“In the course of this action, I saw a tree when I lifted my eyes. I raised my hands on the tree and climbed up where I was able to hide myself. My five children that I left below were crying, and in my presence, they were being slaughtered by the terrorists,” she testified.
She said she later fled into the bush before rescue teams arrived.
“I ran out into the bush at some point, and those who came for rescue brought me out of that place. We were eventually relocated to a new camp,” she added.
The Yelwata attack, which occurred in Guma Local Government Area, left between 100 and 200 people dead, according to varying accounts from security sources and civil society groups. Over 3,000 residents were displaced, with many moved to camps in neighbouring Nasarawa State.
The killings drew nationwide outrage. President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack, visited victims in hospitals, and ordered immediate security action. Emergency agencies later warned of food, health and shelter shortages among the displaced population.
The police subsequently announced the arrest of 26 suspects in connection with the massacre.
The incident again highlighted the protracted farmer–herder conflict in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and renewed global concerns over religiously tinged violence in the region.
Apeh’s testimony came weeks after Trump’s October decision to restore Nigeria to the CPC list, alleging systematic persecution of Christians and suggesting that military options were under review.
The Nigerian government strongly rejected the claims. President Tinubu maintained that Nigeria protects religious freedom and insisted the country is not “religiously intolerant” towards any group.
