A survivor of the Yelwata attack in Benue State, Msurshima Apeh, has narrated her ordeal before the United States Congress, describing how she watched the killing of her five children during the attack.
The victim testified on Thursday before the House Subcommittee on Africa, which examined President Donald Trump’s decision to return Nigeria to the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) list.
She recounted the moment armed men stormed the camp where hundreds of displaced families had been sleeping.
“When we went to sleep that night around 9 pm, 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.
“When the torture had finished at some point in time, they poured petrol on the building and the majority of them were set ablaze,” she said virtually from her base in Benue State.
The victim of the Yelwata killings said she was forced to climb a tree to save herself as her children cried 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 recounted.
She explained that she eventually fled into the bush before rescue workers found her and moved her to safety.
“I ran out into the bush at some point, and those who came for rescue will now bring me out of that place at some point, and I was able to witness the whole drama. When the people came, we were now relocated to a new camp,” the witness said.
The Yelwata attack occurred in June 2025 in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. Reports estimated the death toll at over 100 to 200 people, while more than 3,000 people were displaced. Many survivors were moved to camps in Nasarawa State.
Some of the burnt houses in the Benue attack on April 15, 2025
Civil rights groups disputed the government’s figures, claiming as many as 200 may have died in that single attack. Security sources identified the assailants as suspected armed herdsmen.
Tinubu in a hospital ward in Makurdi, Benue, where Yelwata attack victims are being treated. Photo: State House.
The killings drew national outrage. President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack, visited the victims in the hospitals and ordered a security response.
Emergency officials later warned that displaced families faced shortages of food, healthcare, and bedding. The Police later announced that it has arrested 26 suspects over the attack.
Youths protesting the killings in Benue
The attack further spotlighted the long-running farmer–herder conflict in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and heightened concerns about religiously motivated violence.
The victim’s testimony at Thursday’s hearing followed Trump’s decision in October to return Nigeria to the CPC list. He alleged systematic Christian persecution and confirmed that military options were under review.
Trump’s allegations intensified criticism of Nigeria’s handling of Islamist attacks, but the Nigerian government rejected the claims.
President Bola Tinubu insisted that Nigeria protects religious freedom and said the country is not “religiously intolerant” towards its citizens.
