Nearly 100 people were killed in a brutal overnight assault on the central Nigerian town of Yelwata, according to Amnesty International. The attack, which took place Friday night in Benue state, is part of a long-running wave of violence between herders and farmers in Nigeria’s volatile Middle Belt region.
Among the victims was the family of Fidelis Adidi, a farmer who fled when gunmen stormed the village after dark. Upon returning the next morning, he discovered the charred remains of one of his wives and four of his children in a market room he had rented to keep them safe. His second wife and another child were critically injured.
“My body is weak and my heart keeps racing,” said the 37-year-old, visibly shaken as he stood amid the ruins. “I lost five of my family members.”
Elsewhere in the market, several bodies were found burned beyond recognition, surrounded by scorched food and farming tools.
The incident highlights the deepening crisis in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, a region where ethnic and religious tensions frequently erupt into violence. Disputes over land and resources between the predominantly Muslim cattle herders of the north and mostly Christian farmers of the south have left thousands dead over the years.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said at least 3,000 people have been displaced by the latest violence. Relief efforts are underway in collaboration with aid groups.
President Bola Tinubu, calling the renewed violence “depressing,” is scheduled to visit Benue on Wednesday—his first visit to the region since taking office two years ago.
Among the survivors is Talatu Agauta, a pregnant market trader who fled to the state capital, Makurdi, during the attack. When she returned over the weekend, she found her stock—40 bags of rice—reduced to ashes. Despite the loss, Agauta vowed to remain in her hometown.
“I came back, and even if I die here, I don’t mind,” she said.
