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A survivor of the brutal Yelwata massacre in Benue State, Msurshima Apeh, has delivered a heartbreaking testimony before the United States Congress, narrating how she helplessly watched the murder of her five children during the attack.
Apeh appeared virtually on Thursday before the House Subcommittee on Africa, which was reviewing former President Donald Trump’s decision to place Nigeria back on the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) list.
She recounted how armed attackers invaded a camp sheltering hundreds of already displaced families.
“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.
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“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.
Apeh said she climbed a tree to escape as her crying children were murdered right in front of her.
“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.
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My five children that I left below were crying, and in my presence, they were being slaughtered by the terrorists,” she recounted.
She added that she later fled into the bush before rescue teams reached her.
“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 onslaught happened in June 2025 in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. Initial reports put the death toll between 100 and 200 people, while more than 3,000 survivors were displaced, many of whom were later moved to camps in Nasarawa State.
Civil organisations challenged the government’s figures, asserting that as many as 200 people might have been murdered in the single coordinated attack. Security sources linked the assailants to suspected armed herdsmen.
National outrage followed the tragedy. President Bola Tinubu condemned the killings, visited survivors receiving treatment in Makurdi, and instructed security forces to act.
Emergency response agencies later warned that displaced families were struggling with hunger, limited medical care, and lack of bedding. The Police subsequently announced the arrest of 26 suspects connected to the assault.
