Over the weekend of June 13–14, 2025, gunmen descended on Yelewata in Nigeria’s Benue State and killed hundreds of residents in a single wave of violence, one of the deadliest attacks in central Nigeria this year. Survivors of the June massacre report that the assailants wielded sophisticated firearms and doused homes with petrol before torching them, leaving charred bodies heaped in market stalls and huts.
Amnesty International has placed the toll at “at least 100”, while local rights groups and community leaders insist the final figure may exceed 200. This atrocity follows a grim rise in communal killings with 56 people killed in April over Easter and 42 deaths in May, largely believed to be the result of clashes between farmers and Fulani herders which also resulted in about 86 shelters being damaged.
The fighting between the two camps began several years ago, with the death toll exceeding 1,000 people to date.
What triggers the attacks
Benue State has long been a flashpoint in the ongoing conflict between pastoralists and farmers. The clashes are said to often stem from the arrival of nomadic herders – predominantly from the Fulani ethnic group – who migrate in search of grazing land for their cattle. This movement frequently brings them into confrontation with farmers, who accuse the herds of destroying crops and contaminating local water supplies although the pastoralists have rejected these accusations.
Analyst Kabir Adamu, head of Beacon Security and Intelligence Ltd, told the BBC that environmental decline – particularly desertification driven by climate change and unpredictable rainfall in northern Nigeria – is a key factor behind the crisis.
These environmental challenges are pushing herders to move south in search of viable grazing land, bringing them into regions like Benue State, where natural resources are already under pressure, he explained. Moreover, the rapid rise in population in these southern areas further fuels the struggle for land and water, setting off a cycle where environmental strain, migration, and rising tensions feed into one another, Adamu added.
Any protection measures?
Experts state that the conflict has long been ignored by the state authorities who have been forced to deal with other acts of violence such as those involving the extremist group Boko Haram, waves of kidnapping and calls for secession.
In an attempt to calm tensions after the June massacre, President Bola Tinubu visited Benue State and vowed to ensure justice.
“We will restore peace, rebuild, and bring the perpetrators to justice. You are not alone,” he wrote on X.
Nevertheless, to date, there is no credible record of justice. Human Rights Watch notes that despite the carnage throughout April to June, prosecutors have produced little evidence of the attacks and no one has been arrested or prosecuted for the worst killings.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency, UNICEF, and local NGOs have announced that they are mobilizing relief for over 3,000 internally displaced people from Benue State who have registered at the Ultra International Market camp in Makurdi. One survivor noted that most children at the camp were hungry and exhausted and longed to return home after arriving with absolutely nothing.
These testimonies illustrate far more than statistics; they reveal a deep humanitarian crisis. The men, women, and children who fled Boko Haram-style violence in Gwer West and Katsina-Ala have found only fresh terror in Yelwata. They came to Makurdi seeking safety, only to discover overcrowded tents, tainted water, and the constant dread that aid will run out before their needs are met.
