A survivor of the Yelwata massacre in Benue State has given an emotional account of her ordeal before the United States Congress, recounting how she witnessed the k!lling of her five children during the attack.

 

 

 

Msurshima Apeh testified on Thursday, November 20 , before the House Subcommittee on Africa, which convened to review President Donald Trump’s decision to return Nigeria to the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) list.

 

 

 

Speaking virtually from Benue State, she described how armed men stormed the camp where hundreds of displaced families were sleeping and attacked them

 

 

 

 

“By 9 p.m., as we slept, the Fulani terrorists attacked us. We were locked inside the Yelwata camp, and they were butchering people with cutlasses and shooting,” she said.

 

 

 

She added that after the assault, the attackers doused the building with petrol and set it ablaze.

 

 

 

Apeh recalled how she climbed a tree to hide while her children cried below, moments before they were k!lled.

 

 

 

“I saw a tree when I lifted my eyes. I climbed up and hid myself. My five children were crying beneath me, and I watched as the terrorists slaughtered them,” she said.

 

 

 

She eventually fled into the bush before rescue workers found her and moved her to safety.

 

 

 

 

“I ran into the bush, and those who came for rescue later brought me out. I witnessed everything. When help arrived, we were relocated to a new camp,” she explained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Yelwata attack took place in June 2025 in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. Estimates placed the death toll between 100 and 200 people, while more than 3,000 residents were displaced, many later

resettled in camps across Nasarawa State.

 

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