How We Survived Herdsmen Attack that Claimed 202 Lives in Benue Community – Residents

How We Survived the Herdsmen Attack that Claimed 202 Lives in Benue Community – Residents

Benue State residents narrate how they survived deadly attacks that claimed over 200 innocent lives.

Newera News gathered that the frequency and the intensity of attacks on Benue communities by suspected herdsmen took a turn for the worse last Saturday with the killing of no fewer than 200 inhabitants of Yelewata, a community at the border between Benue and Nasarawa states situated in Guma Local Government Area.

Like other Tiv communities, the inhabitants of Yelewata are predominantly farmers. The rich and fertile land is good for cultivation of different kinds of crops, including maize, rice, millet, yams and cassava, to mention a few.

A farmer in Yelewata, Thomas Iorya, who currently lives in a temporary camp opened for displaced persons at the International Market, Makurdi, the Benue State capital, told our correspondent that Yelewata came into existence more than 100 years ago.

President Bola Tinubu had instructed security agencies to stop the killings in Benue State. Recent reports indicate a wave of attacks in the region, with specific incidents and a timeline of attacks leading to mass deaths. While the search results highlight the situation in Benue, another deadly attack in Plateau resulted in 13 deaths and injuries, showcasing the broader insecurity in the area.

“Our great-grandfathers lived in this town and gave birth to us. So, this is our ancestral home. We have nowhere else to go,” he said as he recalled the bloody incident reckoned to have claimed hundreds of lives.

Orya said: “On that very day of the attack, it was raining heavily, and shortly after the downpour, at about 11 pm, I heard sounds of sporadic gunshots coming from all directions.

But Orya was not alone. Another survivor, Mrs Stella Anshe, a 40-year-old housewife, has been living in the emergency IDPs camp provided by Governor Hyacinth Alia for victims of Yelewata killings since last Saturday.

Recalling the bloody event that culminated in her present condition, she said: “On that Saturday night of the herdsmen’s attack, we were all fast asleep after a heavy downpour.

“Then at about 10.30 pm, we started hearing gunshots from the direction of the warehouse where IDPs from other communities had gathered to sleep.

“The gunmen must have gotten information about people sleeping in the warehouse. They shot and killed almost everyone who slept inside the warehouse and thereafter set the house ablaze.”

Mrs Ashe, who claimed to have lost 14 direct relations in the attack, recalled that children, women and old men were all gruesomely shot and killed. She also expressed concern over the poor conditions of the IDPs in the camp and called on Government agencies responsible for humanitarian services to quickly intervene to save survivors of the attack from hunger.

Asked how she escaped the attacks, she said: “I ran out of my house with other relatives, and the risk paid off.”