All we did was ask them to leave — Benue attack survivor mourns eight family members

Joseph Kwagh, a resident of Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, has shared the heartbreaking story of how he lost eight close family members in a recent attack on the community, describing the tragedy as punishment for simply asking violent herders to vacate their land.

In an emotional interview with News Central TV, Kwagh recounted the chilling events of Friday night, June 13, when suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded the area, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.

He said the community had previously received threats of attack but had grown accustomed to such warnings, which often passed without incident due to security presence.

This time, however, the outcome was devastating.

“We’ve heard similar threats in the past, and security agents—military, police, and local vigilantes—usually pushed them back. So we didn’t expect anything different,” Kwagh said.

“But this time, they came armed and determined to kill. Even infants weren’t spared.”

He explained that residents were outside their homes when it began to rain, prompting many to seek shelter. His father, stepmother, and six siblings crossed the expressway to a nearby storehouse used for storing grains.

“As the rain poured, gunshots suddenly erupted. Panic spread. Then I heard faint cries from the direction where my family had taken cover, but the noise of the rain drowned everything. Soon, someone covered in blood came running, shouting that the attackers had arrived,” he recalled.

Kwagh said he immediately fled with his mother and other siblings to where security personnel were engaging the assailants. It wasn’t until later that he discovered the charred remains of his father, stepmother, and six siblings in the burnt building where they had sought refuge.

“The attackers set the place ablaze, and everything inside—our foodstuff, seedlings, and my family—was gone,” he said, his voice heavy with grief.

He lamented the overwhelming loss of not just his loved ones but also his livelihood and future, adding that his only source of strength now lies in his surviving family.

“I’ve lost everything—my savings, my means of farming, and most painfully, my family. I’m left with the responsibility of caring for those still alive,” he said. “But where there is life, there is hope.”

Kwagh blamed the herder-farmer conflict for the attack, saying tensions had risen after local leaders asked pastoralists to vacate farmlands due to repeated cases of crop destruction by cattle.

“Our elders asked them to leave so we could farm in peace. That was our only offence,” he said.

“Nobody attacked them. Yet they vowed that if we denied them grazing land, we too wouldn’t know peace.”

He appealed for national attention to the tragedy, insisting that the once-peaceful community of Yelewata had been targeted by unprovoked violence.

“These attacks have made it nearly impossible for us to farm, which is our only source of survival,” he added.

At least 45 people were reported killed in the attack, which began Friday night and continued into the early hours of Saturday.

In response to the incident, President Bola Tinubu postponed a scheduled trip to Kaduna State and is expected to visit Benue on Wednesday as part of renewed efforts to restore peace and address the persistent violence affecting local communities.