A deadly assault on the rural village of Yelewata in Nigeria’s Benue State has left at least 100 people dead, according to Amnesty International Nigeria, which denounced the carnage as a massacre of chilling proportions.
The attack reportedly happened late Friday night into the early hours of Saturday in the Guma area of north-central Benue, the human rights organization announced in a statement posted on Facebook. It also warned that dozens remain unaccounted for and hundreds more are suffering from injuries with limited access to urgent medical care.
“Many families were locked up and burnt inside their bedrooms. So many bodies were burnt beyond recognition,” Amnesty stated, painting a grim picture of the scene.
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Images and videos circulating widely on social media show charred homes and what appear to be the lifeless bodies of victims strewn across the smoldering village.
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Benue State police spokesperson Udeme Edet confirmed that Yelewata had been attacked but stopped short of providing casualty figures. Authorities have yet to name any suspects.
Though no group has claimed responsibility, the incident fits a grim pattern of violence in northern Nigeria, where longstanding clashes between herders and farmers frequently erupt over contested access to land and water.
Tensions have persisted for decades, with farmers accusing mostly Fulani herdsmen of invading farmlands and destroying crops, while herders argue they are following traditional grazing routes protected under a 1965 law, enacted just five years after Nigeria gained independence.
Only last month, at least 20 people, according to reports, were killed in Gwer West, also in Benue, in an attack suspected to involve armed herders. Another 40 lives were lost in April during a similar incident in Plateau State, emphasizing the widening scope of rural violence in the region.
In response to the Yelewata massacre, Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia sent a delegation to the affected community to provide support and solidarity to grieving families.
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