Joseph Kwagh, a resident of Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, is mourning the loss of eight members of his immediate family after a brutal attack on their community. Among the victims were his father, stepmother, and six siblings.
Kwagh, who survived the attack, told News Central TV that the violence followed repeated warnings from suspected Fulani herders—threats the community had grown used to and often dismissed.
“Rumours of attacks had come before, and they were always met with resistance from the military, police, and local vigilantes. So, we assumed it would be the same this time,” he said.
But on the night of the attack, the situation turned deadly.
As residents sought shelter from a sudden downpour, the attackers struck. Kwagh’s father, stepmother, and siblings had moved across the expressway to take cover in a grain store, where they were later killed.
“There were gunshots everywhere. We heard screaming, but the rain was too heavy to make out what was happening.
Then someone ran toward us, covered in blood, warning that the attackers were killing people,” he recalled.
Kwagh fled with his mother and remaining siblings to where security forces were trying to repel the assailants.
When he returned to the grain store, he found the charred remains of his relatives amid the ashes of their food supplies.
“All our stored food and the seedlings for planting were destroyed. I’ve lost not just my family, but everything I had invested for the future,” he said.
The attack has left Kwagh as the sole provider for his surviving family.
Despite the trauma, he remains determined to move forward.
“My biggest fear is not being able to return to farming.
That’s our only means of livelihood, but who knows what will happen if we try to go back? Still, as long as I’m alive, I have to keep hope alive for my family.”
He attributed the violence to the ongoing herder-farmer conflict in the region, which has escalated in recent years due to disputes over grazing rights and farmland destruction.
“Our only ‘crime’ was asking them to leave our land so we could farm in peace.
No one harmed them. But they told us that if we stop them from grazing, we too won’t know peace.”
Over 45 people were reportedly killed in the weekend attacks, which began Friday night and lasted into Saturday morning.
In response, President Bola Tinubu postponed his scheduled visit to Kaduna State and announced he would travel to Benue on Wednesday, as part of renewed efforts to address the ongoing violence and promote peace in affected communities.