By Emmanuel Obisue
As widely reported last year, terror gripped Yelwata, a farming community in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State in the early hours of Friday, June 13, 2025. While much of the state laid wrapped in sleep, Yelwata was dying from gunshot wounds and razing fires. The night air, usually calm and broken only by the sounds of insects and distant farm animals, was shattered by gunfire, screaming, and the roar of motorcycles racing to spill blood. By morning, scores had been murdered in cold blood. Some media houses reported 100 killed, others reported over 200 people, mostly women, children, and displaced families, dead. Over 3,000 were also reportedly displaced. But the Nigerian Military has insisted that the figures were largely exaggerated. “I want to state it here that the claim that over 200 people were killed, remains false,” Major General Moses Gara, Force Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke, represented by Brigadier General Kolawole Bukoye, Commander of 401 Special Forces Brigade and Commander Sector 1, Operation Whirl Stroke, told Defence Correspondents last week in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
Yelwata sits barely seven kilometres north of the state’s capital. It is a deeply Christian settlement with a 98 percent Christian flock. Out of this, 97 percent are of the Catholic faith, while the rest make up other denominations. Before the attack, the community had become a sanctuary for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs fleeing similar attacks in neighbouring villages. According to eyewitnesses, many of those who died on that night were not even indigenes of Yelwata. They were refugees who believed they had finally found safety. Instead, what they encountered was one of the bloodiest massacres in Benue’s recent history.
According to survivors, the attack began around 10 p.m. on Thursday night and ran through the early hours of Friday. More than 40 heavily armed gunmen reportedly arrived on motorcycles, moving in pairs, encircling the village with chilling coordination. As they advanced, survivors recounted hearing them chant “Allahu Akbar,” opening fire on anyone in sight. Houses were reportedly torched, and families were hunted down. There was no distinction between the old and the young, the sick or the healthy.
“They came from Rukubi in Doma, Keana, Obi, and other counties in Nasarawa State. They surrounded Yelwata, speaking Hausa and Fufulde, and began slaughtering people – mostly women, children, and displaced families who thought they had found safety here,” recalled Mton Matthias, a local youth leader. He said as villagers fled into nearby bushes and farmlands, many were gunned down in the open. Others were trapped inside burning homes. Some who survived the initial onslaught, died hours later from injuries or exhaustion, according to Matthias. “We’re still finding bodies in the bushes. The death toll is rising every hour,” he added.
Established on April 28, 2018 and headquartered at the 401 Special Forces Brigade, Makurdi, Benue State, Operation Whirl Stroke was set up to tackle security threats across Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa states. Yet, even as indigenes are still grieving heavily over Yelwata, a quiet and untold story of hope has been unfolding across parts of Benue, thanks to the renewed engagement between civilians and the military under the auspices of Operation Whirl Stroke. Across Guma Local Government Area, communities that were once deserted are slowly showing signs of life. Displaced families are beginning to return. Farmlands that had been abandoned for years are being cleared again ahead of the February 2026 planting season.
The change became evident during January 20 – 22 Media Tour of the Operation Whirl Stroke area of operation by Defence Correspondents. In Tatyough community, which hosts the Chief of Army Staff Intervention Battalion XI, residents confirmed that farming activities have resumed. Locals were seen preparing their land for planting, an act that carries enormous significance in a place where stepping onto a farm once meant risking death. As the ‘Food Basket Of The Nation’, this is what Benue stands for – farming.
Many residents attribute this renewed confidence to the sustained presence of Nigerian troops. One of those who has returned is Victor Tor, a farmer who fled his home during earlier waves of violence. “The presence of soldiers has created a safe and conducive environment. I am a son of the soil, and many people like me are eager to return to their fatherland,” he said. Tor acknowledged that peace has not returned by accident. He credited the improvement in security to ongoing military operations and appealed for consistency, urging authorities to sustain and extend the gains to other vulnerable areas of the state. For traders like Martha Tyo, the difference is already affecting daily life. She disclosed that many displaced families are making plans to return, with some already spending nights in their homes again – something that was impossible not long ago. According to the fast food seller, regular military patrols have eased fears of renewed attacks on residents and farmers alike. “Improved civil-military cooperation will encourage more families who are still undecided to finally return and resettle in their ancestral homes,” she said.
Yelwata itself remains a painful symbol. Yet the military insists that the community has moved beyond the chaos of June 2025. Major General Gara assured that Yelwata is now peaceful and ready to receive internally displaced persons who fled after last year’s attack. Speaking to journalists during the media tour of Operation Whirl Stroke, Gara said the remaining responsibility lies on the Benue State Government “to put one or two things in place so that people can fully be integrated back into society”. “Life in Yelwata is very, very normal. People go to farms with the military patrol. They come back with military patrol. There is no threat in Yelwata,” Gara added, dismissing reports circulating after the attack as “negative narratives”. “One of our core mandate is to ensure that displaced persons are returned to their communities so that they can pick up their livelihoods… we are hopeful that anytime from February, there would be an organized return of displaced persons back to their communities,” Gen. Gara added.
His assurance was backed by Lt. Col. Donatus Otobo, Commanding Officer of the COAS Intervention Battalion 11 in Makurdi. “We have deployed to Yelwata, and since then, no bandit has been able to enter,” he said, adding that “80 percent” security success has been achieved since the base was established last year. During the tour, Defence Correspondents observed newly constructed boreholes and other facilities which are part of the military’s non-kinetic interventions aimed at easing the reintegration of displaced persons back into their communities.
Beyond individual testimonies, the military also presented data to illustrate the scope of its operations. In 2025 alone, it said a total of 1,986 kinetic operations were conducted across Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa states. At the headquarters of the 401 Special Forces Brigade in Makurdi, Major General Gara disclosed that these operations recorded significant successes against banditry, kidnapping, and other criminal activities. Represented by Brigadier General Bukoye, Gara said the operations led to the rescue of hundreds of kidnapped victims, the neutralization of criminals, and the recovery of arms, ammunition, and livestock. He said “657 kidnapped captives” were rescued, while “124 bandits, armed herders and other criminals” were neutralized.
Under the same period, the military also recovered 2,465 rustled cows, arrested 38 gunrunners, and destroyed gun-fabricating factories. Troops further recovered 98 assorted weapons and 6,364 rounds of ammunition of different calibres, alongside illicit substances suspected to be cannabis sativa and other banned drugs. One of the notable breakthroughs was the “rescue of Mr Itay, an Israeli working with SCC Nigeria Limited Takum, abducted by unknown gunmen along road Kufai – Ahmadu – Wukari in Takum LGA of Taraba State”.
Perhaps the most telling indicator of progress is the return of people. According to the military, improved security has enabled over 60,000 internally displaced persons to return to their ancestral homes and farmlands in recent times. Communities recently resettled include Agbatse and Abande in Kwande LGA of Benue State, as well as Aiyla, Ochulokpa, Akaida, Eba, Maikudi, Aku, Okokolo and Ochalanya in Agatu Local Government Areas.
As part of its civil-military cooperation efforts, the military said it also distributed 2,800 bags of 50kg fertiliser to farmers, reinforcing the link between security and food production. The military said it also facilitated peace and reconciliation meetings among Opatani, Omangede, Fulani and Tiv communities, alongside MACBAN, across parts of Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Kogi states, leading to the restoration of law and order in several previously volatile communities. For communities like Yelwata, the road ahead remains uncertain. Graves are still fresh, memories are raw, and trust will take time to rebuild. But amid the grief, Operation Whirl Stroke is making significant gains to restore hope and order.
The military said beyond the usual ‘Fulani Herdsmen’ suspects, other groups including: armed bandits, kidnappers, Cattle rustlers, and militia gangs, are also complicit in the many attacks and communal clashes. General Gara who said he has “evidence”, confirmed and condemned the “illegal” stockpiling of arms by Benue locals to “defend” themselves against attacks. “The community contributes money, source weapons on their own, and they have a group of their youths who are supposed to be in charge of these weapons. These weapons overtime, are now being used for all manners of criminalities,” Gara disclosed to Defence Correspondents.
Upon receiving the touring Defence Correspondents in Nasarawa State, Brigadier General David Nwakonobi, Commanding Officer, Sector 2, Operation Whirl Stroke, gave assurances that his command will collaborate with the commands of Benue and Taraba to block and neutralize criminal gangs who advance form Nasarawa into the other states to unleash mayhem, and sneak back in afterwards.
