CASE STUDY FROM SANCTUARY TO SLAUGHTER: 200 LIVES LOST IN ONE NIGHT
During one deadly night in 2025, more than 200 Christians were massacred, and 3,000 people of all ages ran for their lives. The bloodbath happened between June 13 th and 14 th , when militant Fulani herdsmen attacked the town of Yelewata in Benue State, which is 98 percent Christian, killing people and setting buildings alight. Internally displaced families were in buildings repurposed as temporary accommodation in the market square, in Guma Local Government Area, near Makurdi, when the militants stormed in, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”). The victims were then killed — shot, macheted, and burned alive — as they slept or attempted to flee. Speaking to ACN from Yelewata, less than 12 hours aft er the atrocity, the town’s parish priest, Father Ukuma Jonathan Angbianbee, described how he and a number of IDPs narrowly escaped death by dropping to the floor of the church’s presbytery at the first sound of gunfire. He said: “When we heard the shots and saw the militants, we committed our lives to God. This morning, I thank God I am alive. What I saw was truly gruesome. People were slaughtered. Corpses were scattered everywhere.” He added that some bodies were so badly burned, it was diff icult to identify them. The priest noted that Yelewata had absorbed thousands of IDPs from neighboring villages — as it was considered relatively safe, lying on the main road to Abuja — but now was largely deserted, with many taking refuge in nearby Daudu and Abagena.
Father Jonathan said that the attack was carefully coordinated, and that the militants accessed the town from multiple angles and used the cover of heavy rains to mount their assault. Catholic clergy criticized the security response to the attack, saying that the police who stopped the militants from accessing the church were poorly equipped and were unable to prevent the attack on the nearby market place. One priest said: “The morning aft er the attack there were plenty of police and other security, but where were they the previous evening when we needed them?” Another added: “This is by far [the] worst atrocity we have seen. There has been nothing even close.” Visiting the scene of the massacre the following week, General Christopher Musa, the Chief of the Defence Staff in Nigeria, reportedly suggested insider collaboration in the attacks, saying: “We have observed that the way some of the burnings were carried out shows they were targeted. It indicates the presence of insiders compromising security efforts.” Church leaders have repeatedly called for international help, claiming that a jihadist plan is underway to seize land and ethnically cleanse the region of its Christian presence. Sources John Pontifex, “Up to 200 dead in worst killing spree," ACN (UK) News , June 16, 2025 https://acnuk.org/news/2025/06/16/nigeria- 200-dead-worst-killing-spree John Pontifex, “We will rise again," ACN (UK) News , June 19, 2025 https://acnuk.org/news/2025/06/19/nigeria-we-will-rise-again [Both sites accessed 06/01/26]
28 | Persecuted and Forgotten?
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