At least 100 people have been killed in a brutal overnight attack on Yelewata, a village in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The massacre, which began late Friday and continued into the early hours of Saturday, was carried out by suspected armed herders, according to eyewitnesses, local officials, and rights group Amnesty International.

The assault marks the third attack on Yelewata within one week, raising alarm over the deteriorating security situation in the region. The attackers reportedly stormed the village just before midnight, overwhelming the community with sophisticated weapons and facing little to no resistance from security forces.

Eyewitness accounts and local sources paint a horrifying picture of the rampage. “They came in large numbers and took over the village for over two hours. This was not just an attack—it was an annihilation,” a Guma local government staff member said anonymously. “They locked families inside their homes and set them ablaze. Many were hacked to death with cutlasses.”

Amnesty International Nigeria, in a statement on X, confirmed the scale of the atrocity, noting that “many people are still missing, dozens injured and left without adequate medical care. Many families were locked up and burnt inside their bedrooms.”

Dennis Denen Gbongbon, President of the Association of United Farmers Benue Valley (AUFBV), who visited the scene, reported that more than 85% of the victims were internally displaced persons (IDPs), many of whom had fled previous violence in surrounding communities like Antsa, Dooka, Kadarko, and Giza. These victims were sheltering in makeshift stalls and shops around Yelewata market when the attackers struck.

“This is a targeted attack on vulnerable people,” Gbongbon said. “These IDPs, mostly Tiv farmers, thought they had found safety—but terror continues to pursue them even in displacement. Entire families were wiped out in ways that defy imagination.”

In a separate but related incident on the same night, two soldiers were reportedly killed in Daudu, another community within Guma LGA, while responding to an attempted invasion. Witnesses said five soldiers may have been ambushed, though military officials have yet to confirm the full extent of the losses.

The Special Adviser to the Benue State Governor on Security and Internal Affairs, Joseph Har, confirmed the attacks in both Yelewata and Daudu but said he was still awaiting detailed reports. “I’m aware that this ugly thing happened, but I can’t confirm numbers yet,” he told journalists in Makurdi.

The Benue State Police Command also acknowledged the Yelewata attack. Public Relations Officer Udeme Edet said that tactical units responded swiftly and engaged the assailants in a gun battle, killing some of them. However, he did not provide an official casualty figure. “It’s with great sadness that we report that some individuals lost their lives and others sustained injuries,” he added.

Benue State, located in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, has long been plagued by deadly clashes between farming communities and herders over land use. These tensions are often fueled by deeper ethnic and religious divisions between the mostly Christian Tiv population and predominantly Muslim Fulani herders. In a similar incident last month, suspected herders killed at least 42 people across Gwer West LGA.

As search and rescue operations continue, fears grow that the death toll from the Yelewata massacre may rise above 200, given the number of missing persons and those critically injured. Community leaders and humanitarian workers are calling for urgent intervention to prevent further bloodshed.

Reports by Reuters and Daily Trust contributed to this story.