A survivor of the Yelwata attack in Benue State, Msurshima Apeh, has recounted her harrowing experience before the United States Congress, describing how she witnessed the killing of her five children during the assault.
Apeh testified on Thursday before the House Subcommittee on Africa, which convened to examine President Donald Trump’s decision to return Nigeria to the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) list.
She narrated how armed men stormed the camp where hundreds of displaced families were sleeping.
“When we went to sleep that night around 9 p.m., 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.
When the torture had finished at some point, they poured petrol on the building and the majority of them were set ablaze,” she said, speaking virtually from Benue State.
Apeh explained that she climbed a tree to hide as her children cried below.
“When I lifted my eyes, I saw a tree. I raised my hands, climbed up, and hid myself there. My five children that I left below were crying, and in my presence, they were being slaughtered by the terrorists,” she recounted.
She eventually fled into the bush before rescue workers found her.
“I ran into the bush at some point, and those who came for rescue brought me out. I witnessed the whole drama. When help came, we were relocated to a new camp,” she added.
The Yelwata attack occurred in June 2025 in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. Reports estimated the death toll between 100 and 200, while more than 3,000 people were displaced. Many survivors were later moved to camps in Nasarawa State.
Civil rights groups disputed the government’s initial figures, insisting the death toll may have reached 200. Security sources described the attackers as suspected armed herdsmen.
A photo circulating from Makurdi showed President Bola Tinubu visiting victims in a hospital ward. The killings sparked nationwide outrage. Tinubu condemned the attack, visited the injured, and ordered an intensified security response.
Emergency officials later warned that displaced families were facing severe shortages of food, healthcare, and bedding. The Police subsequently announced the arrest of 26 suspects linked to the attack.
The incident also prompted youth-led protests across Benue State, further drawing attention to Nigeria’s long-running farmer–herder conflict in the Middle Belt and escalating concerns about religiously motivated violence.
Apeh’s testimony came shortly after Trump’s decision in October to reinstate Nigeria on the CPC list. He alleged systematic persecution of Christians and said military options were under review.
The claims intensified scrutiny of Nigeria’s response to extremist violence, though the Nigerian government strongly rejected the allegations. President Tinubu maintained that Nigeria upholds religious freedom and is not “religiously intolerant” toward any group.
