On Thursday, June 19, 2025, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa disclosed at a media briefing at Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja that faulty intelligence misled troops deployed to prevent attacks in Benue State, allowing armed herders to massacre over 200 people in Yelewata, Guma Local Government Area, on June 13–14. Musa revealed that troops mobilized to named communities based on intelligence about impending attacks, only to find the information inaccurate, as the assailants struck Yelewata using a hit-and-run tactic. He alleged that local informants in Benue provided the attackers with accommodation, food, women, and critical details about the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp’s location, enabling the high casualty toll. “They were teleguided by some persons in that community,” Musa stated, lamenting the lack of community vigilance despite President Bola Tinubu’s directive to apprehend the perpetrators.
Musa emphasized that the military, alongside the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, and intelligence agencies, is actively pursuing the attackers, with some neutralized during engagements. He urged communities to report suspicious activities, stating, “Security is everyone’s responsibility.” The CDS called for urgent action to address Nigeria’s porous borders, citing the influx of terrorists, bandits, and arms dealers from crisis-hit Sahel states like Sudan, Libya, and the Central African Republic, which exploit Nigeria’s 4,047 km of unmonitored frontiers. He proposed a border fence, citing Pakistan’s double wall with Afghanistan, larger than Nigeria, as a cost-effective model to curb trans-Sahel arms and fighter flows. Musa expressed condolences for the Yelewata victims, affirming the Armed Forces’ commitment to justice and peace through a “Whole-of-Society Approach” involving military, government, and citizens.
Deputy Director of Defence Media Operations, Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Abu-Mawashi, revealed that over the past two years, joint military operations nationwide eliminated 6,260 terrorists, bandits, and criminals, arrested 14,138 suspects, and rescued 5,365 civilians. In the Niger Delta, troops recovered N83 billion in stolen petroleum, killed 103 criminals, and arrested 2,760. In the North-East, 1,246 Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters were neutralized, 2,467 arrested, and 1,920 civilians rescued. The North-West saw 1,374 bandits killed, 2,160 arrested, and 3,288 hostages freed, while in the North-Central, 730 extremists were killed and 7,153 arrested. In the South-East, Operation Udoka neutralized 440 terrorists, and in the South-West, 80 criminals were killed. Troops recovered thousands of weapons and ammunition across these regions, underscoring the military’s efforts despite challenges like faulty intelligence and community complicity.
The Yelewata attack, part of a broader herder-farmer conflict claiming 6,896 lives in Benue since May 2023 (Amnesty International), exposed systemic issues, including insider collaboration and porous borders facilitating arms from Sahel conflicts. Musa’s allegations of locals aiding attackers align with reports of traditional rulers and informants supporting bandits in the North-West, as noted in a 2022 Guardian report. The military’s reliance on drones and airstrikes, while effective (e.g., 70 ISWAP fighters killed in April 2022), has been hampered by intelligence failures, as seen in past erroneous airstrikes like Rann in 2017 (112 deaths). Posts on X, such as @ChuksEricE and @vanguardngrnews, reflect public outrage over the massacre and Musa’s claims, with @nemanigeria noting the attack’s coordination, amplifying calls for community policing and border fortifications to address Nigeria’s multifaceted security crisis.
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