In a harrowing virtual testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Msurshima Apeh, a survivor of the June 2025 Yelwata attack in Benue State, Nigeria, recounted watching Fulani militants slaughter her five children as she hid in a tree.
Speaking on Thursday during a hearing examining the Trump administration’s decision to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for severe religious freedom violations, Apeh described the night armed assailants stormed the displacement camp where hundreds of families sought refuge.
“They attacked us where we were sleeping. We were locked inside the camp in Yelwata, and they were butchering people with cutlasses and shooting guns,” Apeh told lawmakers.
She said the attackers later doused buildings with petrol and set them ablaze, trapping many inside. Forced to flee for her life, Apeh climbed a tree to hide while her children remained below. “My five children that I left below were crying, and in my presence, they were being slaughtered by the terrorists,” she said, her voice breaking as she addressed the panel from Benue State.
The Yelwata massacre in Guma Local Government Area claimed between 100 and 200 lives and displaced over 3,000 people, many of whom were subsequently moved to camps in neighbouring Nasarawa State. Apeh eventually escaped into the bush and was later rescued.