- Residents of Yelwata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State have protested the killing of three people by suspected herdsmen in the community.
- The latest attack occurred in the early hours of Monday, August 11, 2025, barely two months after over 100 residents were massacred in the same rural community by assailants.
- It was gathered that three other persons were injured in the attack and are currently receiving medical treatment in a hospital.
- Locals said the victims in Monday’s attack were from the same family that lost 19 members during the June 13 k1llings in Yelwata.
- The incident triggered angry residents to block the Makurdi-Lafia Highway in protest.
- The protesters displayed the d3ad bodies on the highway, thereby stalling movement of vehicles for several hours.
- A protester, Maria Ihom, said the military was not doing enough to protect them, hence the blockade to draw the government’s attention to their plight.
- Achii Mathias, the Yelwata youth leader, told journalists by phone that the attack happened between 7 and 7.30am.
- He alleged the attackers might have slept within the community to strike so early, noting that residents laid the victims’ bodies on the road in protest despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to security agencies to curb such violence.
- Chief Dennis Gbongbon, President of United Farmers Benue Valley and a resident, said the armed men stormed the area early Monday, killing three people and leaving the community mourning.
- Yelwata’s village head, Zaki Julius Joor, confirmed the victims were members of the same family that suffered 19 deaths in the June massacre.
- A military source, speaking unofficially, said troops responded to a distress call and confronted the attackers, but noted that the k!llings occurred outside Yelwata.
- Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) DSP Udeme Edet, in a Monday evening statement, confirmed the d3aths, saying the victims were attacked while farming.
- She explained that at about 5am, suspected armed herders attempted to invade Udei town in Guma LGA but were repelled by police tactical units.
- “Unfortunately, when security units pursued them into the forest, they discovered that some farmers had already been attacked. Three sustained serious injuries and were taken to Benue State University Teaching Hospital, while three others were confirmed d3ad,” Edet said
- Following the June massacre in Yelwata, President Tinubu directed security chiefs to end the killings and arrest perpetrators.
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