Benue State: Many Massacred as Armed Marauders Invade Camp

At around 9 o'clock on Friday, March 7, armed marauders attacked a camp at the LGEA Primary School Mgban, in Nyiev Council Ward of Guma Local Government Area, LGA, in Benue State.

They arrived with sporadic gunfire after overwhelming the police officers conducting stop-and-search operations at the checkpoint right across the road from the camp on the route between Makurdi and Lafia.

Women, many of whom were pregnant at the time of the invasion, children, and the elderly in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp and the host community were massacred because they were caught off guard and unable to escape before the gunmen arrived.

Chief Bernard Shawa, the Tyoor Nyiev, had his automobiles and motorcycles vandalised and burned along with the loss of his two children by the invading forces.

According to the findings, the majority of those slain were slaughtered by armed men in one of the classrooms that had been converted into a sleeping area for the IDPs.

According to reports, they were executed by shooting while sleeping, just like any other common offenders on death row.

There were only a handful of survivors who were able to leave the classroom, and most of those are currently fighting for their lives in the hospital.

Many of the victims of the incident were shot or hacked with machetes, leaving another 40 in critical condition.

Some of the IDPs who survived the attack recounted their harrowing ordeal, including Shawa, the District Head of the hamlet who lost two children. They described how the marauders shot their loved ones while they watched.

Shawa described how the armed herders attacked the hamlet between 9 and 10 p.m. on the specified day, adding, "I was sitting outside with my children when we started hearing gunshots from across the road." This occurred amidst the wails and cries of the community's residents.

“We were all shocked and we started running to escape from the armed men. Unfortunately, two of my children, a boy and a girl, did not make it, they could not escape; they were gunned down by the attackers."

“And because we have a point checkpoint on the road, displaced persons normally take shelter at the LGEA Primary School. The gunmen also opened fire on the IDPs and people in the community, shooting and killing our people as they spoke their language."

“Before this particular invasion, they had also attacked our community on February 25, 2023. On that day they killed 12 of our people.”

Mnena Okega, a 35-year-old mother of three and a nurse, described how the intrepid raiders sliced her daughter, 10, in the throat.

“We had all gone to sleep inside the classrooms where we sleep when we suddenly started hearing gunshots”, Okega said.

“Nobody knew what was happening, there was pandemonium, I started shouting the names of my children and urging them to wake up and run."

“My first daughter, who was 10 years old, was among the first to escape from the window. But, unfortunately, while she was running away thinking that she was escaping, she ran into the armed men who were moving around searching for who to kill."

“One of them caught her, and even as she cried for help pleading that they should spare her, one of them pulled out his knife and slashed the throat of my innocent daughter."

“It was a sight no mother would want to see. That was what they did to me. They killed my daughter who cried and begged for her live. They cut her throat like an animal."

“I could not help her because I was running with my other children and I thought that they will spare her, seeing that she was a small girl."

“I was wrong, they killed her in cold blood. I will live with the trauma all my life and it will be difficult to forgive the herdsmen and I know that the blood of my daughter will cry to God for justice.”

Yina Jime, a mother of four who is 50 years old, claims that she was saved by God and was able to leave with her children.

She and her kids were chased into the jungle by marauders, and she claims it's a miracle that they made it out alive.

She said, “When the shooting started, we all started running. My children and I dashed into the nearby bush, but as we ran the invaders where chasing after us."

“We kept running but when we could not go any further, we decided to hide ourselves with dried bush and grass."

“At that point the attackers lost sight of us and could not trace many of us anymore. We remained under the grass till it was safe to come out after they had retreated. Unfortunately several of our friends especially women and children were not spared, they were killed. And in some instances we had mothers killed with their children."

“It was a sad Good Friday for us at Mgban. They killed women and children who ran from their ancestral homes to seek refuge were killed in cold blood. And the only way to ensure that they did not die in vain is for the Federal Government to ensure that their killers are arrested and prosecuted.”