A protracted wave of violence has gripped Benue State, entrapping numerous villages in a cycle of bloodshed and destruction. Families have been torn apart, homes destroyed, and communities displaced. This report by The Abuja Post examines the devastating impact of the violence sweeping through the state.
On the early hours of Friday, April 18, 2025, Good Friday, residents of Tse Shawa in Ukum LGA of Benue State were preparing for the day, unaware that their village would be the next target of gunmen, despite anticipating an attack following similar incidents in neighboring villages.
The attack, which occurred around 9 a.m., left at least 11 people dead after armed men stormed the village, firing indiscriminately. The victims included two sons of Zumwua Shawa, who, upon hearing of their death, collapsed and succumbed to her own grief.
Zumwua Shawa’s sons, Ahumbe and Chieryol, were brutally killed in their rooms during the attack, and their bodies were further mutilated with machetes by the gunmen.
Simon Udeti, a relative of the victims, recounted that he, his wife, and other household members narrowly escaped the attack by fleeing through the bush and making their way to Afia in Tsaav ward, Ukum LGA.
Simon Udeti recounted the horror, saying, “They just came in and started shooting at us like wild animals. My two brothers-in-law, Ahumbe and Chieryol, were shot dead right there in their rooms.”
Simon Udeti described the devastating aftermath, saying, “When we broke the tragic news to my mother-in-law, she couldn’t take it… She died right there from the shock,” highlighting the emotional toll of the attack on the family.
Due to fear of further attacks, the family hastily buried the two siblings. During the retrieval of the bodies, Simon Udeti reported that they found five additional victims nearby.
Between April 17 and April 19, 2025, suspected herdsmen, identifiable by their language and appearance, carried out coordinated village-by-village attacks in Apa, Logo and Ukum LGAs. The killers targeted residents, killing many and forcing others to flee their homes in a brutal campaign to remove them from their land.
The attacks, which started on Thursday afternoon in the Gbagir axis of Ukum LGA, persisted for at least three days, with Friday being the deadliest day. The violence that Simon Udeti’s family endured was just one of many atrocities committed by the gunmen in the region over the past few years.
In Tyuluv village, on the same day, residents were preparing for the day’s activities, including farm work and Easter weekend church services, when around 9 a.m., 62-year-old Sarah Shiaondo spotted unfamiliar men wearing face masks entering the village. The strangers soon turned violent, attacking the villagers.
“Having sensed this we started finding a way to raise alarm,” she narrated, adding that, “they laid ambush on paths to farms where we could run for safety.”
During the attack, Sarah Shiaondo tragically lost two of her biological children and five stepchildren.
Sarah Shiaondo recounted the horror, saying, “Attempts to escape through the paths were abortive as they already laid barricades. Two of my children, about 32 and 34 years old, were killed, along with five of my stepchildren.”
The Abuja Post was unable to independently confirm the total number of casualties due to conflicting reports, with estimates ranging from 100 to 200 deaths in the affected villages in Apa and Ukum.
The village heads struggled to confirm the exact number of casualties as many people were believed to still be lying lifeless in the bush. Afia village head representative, Evern Ngutor, stated that the numbers circulating on social media and those reported by the government did not accurately reflect the true extent of the casualties, as bodies were still being recovered daily.
