Msurshima Apeh, a survivor of the devastating Yelwata massacre in Benue State, delivered a heart-wrenching testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, recounting how she helplessly witnessed the murder of her five children during the June 2025 attack. The hearing was reviewing former President Donald Trump’s decision to place Nigeria back on the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) list.

Speaking virtually from Benue State on Thursday, Apeh described how armed assailants invaded a camp sheltering hundreds of displaced families in Guma Local Government Area.

“When we went to sleep around 9 p.m., Fulani terrorists attacked us where we were sleeping,” she said. “They butchered people with cutlasses and fired guns. At one point, they poured petrol on the building, setting it ablaze.”

She recounted fleeing by climbing a tree, leaving her five children below. “My five children that I left below were crying, and in my presence, they were slaughtered by the terrorists,” she said. Apeh later escaped into the bush before rescue teams arrived and relocated survivors to a new camp.

Initial reports from the Yelwata attack put the death toll between 100 and 200, displacing over 3,000 people, many of whom were moved to camps in Nasarawa State. Civil organizations have challenged the official figures, suggesting as many as 200 victims may have died in the coordinated assault. Security sources linked the attackers to suspected armed herdsmen.

The massacre sparked nationwide outrage. President Bola Tinubu condemned the killings, visited survivors receiving treatment in Makurdi, and ordered security forces to respond. Emergency agencies warned that displaced families were facing hunger, inadequate medical care, and lack of bedding. The Police later announced the arrest of 26 suspects connected to the attack.