A Catholic priest in the Diocese of Katsina-Ala, Benue State, Rev. Fr. Benjamin Versue, has alleged that suspected Fulani herdsmen set ablaze St. Paul’s Parish rectory in Ayetwar on Monday night.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the visibly distressed cleric said the attackers smashed the church’s windows before overrunning the community, forcing residents to flee their ancestral homes.
Fr. Versue accused the Nigerian Army of making the community vulnerable by disarming locals, alleging that the armed assailants were “equipped with logistics and high-level intelligence provided by military personnel,” which enabled them to kill unarmed civilians in their sleep.
“St. Paul’s Parish Ayetwar rectory, which I sacrificed everything to build, was set ablaze by Fulani Jihadists yesterday,” he wrote. “The Church window glasses were broken and the people successfully sacked from their ancestry homes. Kudos to the Nigerian Army for successfully disarming the people and making them vulnerable to their attackers.”
The priest lamented what he described as the helplessness of the nation’s security forces, saying, “The cries of the people echo through the land… blood flowing like a river. Justice, integrity, dignity, humanity, lost in the fray; a nation’s future uncertain each passing day.”
Benue State has faced recurring violence linked to armed herdsmen, with rural communities frequently targeted.
As of press time, the number of casualties from the Ayetwar attack could not be independently verified, and military authorities are yet to respond to the allegations.
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