Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, announced the arrest of 28 suspects linked to the brutal June 13 massacre in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, where over 200 people were killed and 5,000 displaced by suspected Fulani herders.
The announcement, made during a press briefing in Abuja on June 23, follows President Bola Tinubu’s directive to security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators, marking a significant step in addressing Nigeria’s escalating farmer-herder conflict.
Egbetokun revealed that the arrests were the result of coordinated raids across Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa states, conducted by a joint task force of police, military, and DSS operatives. The operation recovered 15 AK-47 rifles, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, and 10 improvised explosive devices. Preliminary investigations suggest the attack was a retaliatory strike following a militia raid on a herder settlement in Kwande LGA, which killed 20 cattle, according to police sources. The suspects, primarily identified as Fulani herders, are undergoing interrogation at the Force Headquarters, with forensic analysis of recovered weapons underway to trace their origins.
The Yelwata massacre, one of the deadliest in Benue’s history, razed 150 homes and destroyed crops worth ₦500 million, per the Benue State Emergency Management Agency. Governor Hyacinth Alia, who visited the community on June 20 alongside Senate President Godswill Akpabio, commended the arrests but urged residents to provide intelligence to prevent reprisals. “These arrests send a strong message, but we need community cooperation to end this cycle,” Alia said. The IGP deployed an additional 1,000 officers to Benue and established a permanent police post in Guma to deter further attacks.
The incident has reignited debates over Nigeria’s farmer-herder crisis, which claimed 2,500 lives in 2024, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). Critics, including the Middle Belt Forum, argue that the federal government’s failure to implement grazing reserves fuels violence, while herder groups like Miyetti Allah demand protection from militia attacks. Egbetokun vowed to prosecute all suspects swiftly, with trials expected by Q4 2025.