By Yinka Giwa
The Federal Government will today arraign suspects linked to the gruesome Yelwata massacre in Benue State, in what officials describe as a decisive step to confront Nigeria’s “enemies within” and dismantle the networks behind mass killings and terrorism.
The suspects are to be brought before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, following what the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) described as a painstaking, multi-agency investigation involving the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security bodies.
In a statement issued yesterday and signed by the AGF’s media aide, Mr. Kamarudeen Ogundele, the Federal Government assured Nigerians that the prosecution would be pursued diligently to send “a strong signal to the enemies of the country acting under any disguise.”
“The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to the protection of lives and property of all Nigerians, as enshrined in the Constitution,” the statement said.
The arraignment follows months of investigations into the June 2025 attacks on Yelwata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, where suspected armed herdsmen launched coordinated assaults on homes, a local market and a Catholic mission.
The violence, which began late on June 13 and continued into the early hours of June 14, left more than 100 people dead, hundreds of houses burnt, and entire families displaced. Victims were reportedly mutilated, while thousands of residents, estimated at over 3,000, were forced to flee their homes amid exchanges of gunfire between attackers and security operatives.
Court documents earlier filed by the DSS identified several suspects allegedly involved in the massacre and related terror attacks in Yelwata and neighbouring Abinsi community. Those named include Musa Beniyon, Bako Malowa, Ibrahim Tunga, Asara Ahnadu, Legu Musa, Adamu Yale, Boddi Ayuba and Pyeure Damina.
The DSS also listed Haruna Adamu and Muhammad Abdullahi, both of Awe Local Government Area in Nasarawa State, as key masterminds of the attacks, noting that they remained at large. In addition, two residents of Guma LGA, Terkende Ashuwa and Amos Alede, were charged for allegedly carrying out reprisal attacks linked to the violence.
The suspects are being prosecuted under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022.
The move to court comes against the backdrop of warnings by the Minister of Defence, retired General Christopher Musa, that Nigeria’s security crisis has become more dangerous because criminals operate from within communities, aided by silence, collaboration and protection from insiders.
Musa has repeatedly cautioned that Nigeria is not fighting a conventional war, but an asymmetric conflict in which attackers blend into civilian populations, making intelligence gathering difficult and public cooperation indispensable.
President Tinubu had earlier condemned the Yelwata killings and ordered security agencies to hunt down all those responsible, vowing that perpetrators and their sponsors would not escape justice.
Today’s arraignment, government officials say, is part of a broader resolve to prove that even in a war complicated by hidden enemies and internal collaborators, accountability remains the ultimate weapon of the state.