At least 200 Christians were killed this weekend by armed radicals who attacked them overnight while they were sleeping. The Christians in Benue State were burned alive, stabbed, and shot dead as they tried to flee the massacre.

The displaced families were staying in buildings converted into temporary shelters at Yelewata market square in Guma Local Government Area, near Makurdi, when the militants stormed in, shouting “Allahu Akhbar” (“God is great”) before beginning the killing spree.

In a firsthand account received by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), local clergy said that on the evening of the massacre, police had already repelled the attackers as they attempted to storm St. Joseph’s Church in Yelewata, where up to 700 internally displaced people were sleeping. However, the group of militants then headed to the town’s market square, where they used fuel to set fire to the gates of the displaced people’s shelter, before opening fire in the area where more than 500 people were sleeping.

Initial reports confirmed that at least 100 people were killed in the three-hour massacre, but data later compiled by the Foundation for Justice, Development and Peace (FJDP) of the Diocese of Makurdi estimated the death toll at 200. This makes it the worst atrocity in a region that is seeing a surge in attacks. This comes amid growing evidence of a coordinated assault to force the entire community to flee the area.

Meanwhile, Church leaders are trying to assist the large number of people who had taken refuge in Yelewata following Fulani attacks on communities across Benue State and who have now fled the town to neighboring towns and villages.

Burned alive and unrecognizable corpses

Speaking to ACN from Yelewata, the town’s parish priest, Father Ukuma Jonathan Angbianbee, described how he and other internally displaced people narrowly escaped death, throwing themselves to the floor of the parish house upon hearing the gunshots. The priest said: “When we heard the gunshots and saw the radicals, we entrusted our lives to God. This morning, I thank God that I am alive.”

Father Jonathan described his visit to the market square:  “What I saw was truly horrifying. People were murdered. There were bodies strewn everywhere.”

An initial report from the FJDP, whose staff has visited the site of the massacre,

states: “It was a monstrosity, a sight no one should ever behold.” The FJDP adds:  “Some [bodies] were burned beyond recognition: babies, children, mothers and fathers simply annihilated.”

Father Jonathan said some were so badly burned that they were difficult to identify. He said Yelewata had hosted thousands of internally displaced people from surrounding villages as it was considered relatively safe, being on the main road to Abuja, but is now virtually deserted and many have taken refuge in the nearby towns of Daudu and Abagena.

Father Jonathan said he and others identified the attackers as Fulanis and that the attack was carefully coordinated , with the militants entering the town from multiple angles and using the cover of heavy rain to launch their assault: “There is no doubt about who carried out the attack. They were definitely Fulanis. They were shouting ‘Allahu Akhbar.’”

Father Jonathan and other clerics in the Makurdi diocese criticized the security response to the attack, saying the police who prevented the militants from accessing the church were ill-prepared and ultimately failed to prevent the attack on the nearby market.

At the Angelus this Sunday, June 15, Pope Leo XIV said he prayed for those “brutally murdered” in “the terrible massacre,” most of them internally displaced people “welcomed by the local Catholic mission.” The Pope offered his prayers for “security, justice, and peace” in Nigeria, adding that he was thinking especially of the  “rural Christian communities in Benue State, who have been the relentless victims of violence.”

The Friday night massacre comes amid a surge in attacks in Benue State, centered in the Makurdi region, where the population is over 95% Catholic. In other recent attacks, more than 100 people have been killed and 5,000 displaced in the Gwer West local government areas of the Makurdi diocese.

 Local Church leaders have repeatedly called for international assistance, claiming a jihadist plot is underway to seize land and ethnically cleanse the region of Christians.

ACN condemns this latest massacre against the Christian community in the martyred country of Nigeria and calls for continued prayers for an end to the violence targeting Christians in this African country.