Carnage in Benue: 200 Feared Dead as Terrorist Herders Wipe Out IDPs, Soldiers in Guma
Among the victims were Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and five Nigerian soldiers deployed to protect the vulnerable settlements.
The brutal assault, which reportedly began under the cover of darkness, saw the assailants invade the two communities simultaneously—setting homes ablaze and shooting indiscriminately. Eyewitnesses say the attackers targeted IDP camps and local residences, leaving a trail of devastation.
A local vigilante member, who narrowly escaped, described the assault as “well-planned and merciless.”
“They came in from different directions. They knew where the IDPs were. By morning, bodies littered the camps and surrounding farmlands,” he said.
Military sources confirmed the deaths of five soldiers during the attack, stating they died defending the camps from being overrun. The soldiers were reportedly part of the deployment attached to Operation Whirl Stroke, the special security task force operating in Benue.
As of Saturday morning, search-and-rescue operations were ongoing, with emergency workers overwhelmed by the scale of destruction. Many injured persons, including women and children, were rushed to nearby hospitals, while security reinforcements were deployed to the area.
Governor Hyacinth Alia, who condemned the attack as “barbaric and unacceptable,” called for immediate federal intervention and intensified military operations in Benue’s border areas.
“This is a direct assault on the sovereignty of our state and the humanity of our people. We cannot continue to count our dead while the world watches in silence,” the governor said in a statement.
Residents and community leaders are now urging the federal government to declare the armed herders as terrorists and treat the ongoing attacks as acts of war.
No group has claimed responsibility for the massacre as of the time of this report.
