Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has sparked nationwide uproar with explosive claims that residents of Yelwata, Benue State, deliberately harboured the armed bandits responsible for last week’s massacre that left over 100 civilians dead. Speaking during a high-level media interaction at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, June 19, the Defence Chief alleged that the attackers were fed, sheltered, offered women, and even guided to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp by members of the community.
The General’s revelation followed one of the deadliest attacks in recent times in the North Central region, where entire families were wiped out and homes razed overnight. “These criminals were harboured by people in the community. They were given food. They were even given women. They were shown where the IDP camp was located. Yet, not one single warning reached our forces,” Musa told journalists, expressing frustration over the failure of locals to raise the alarm before the bloodbath.
Intelligence reports had initially pointed troops to other vulnerable parts of Benue State, prompting early deployments. However, Musa explained that the information was deliberately misleading, likely a decoy planted by collaborators. “By the time we arrived at the locations we had been tipped off about, the real attack had already occurred in Yelwata—swiftly and brutally, using a hit-and-run tactic,” he said.
The Yelwata killings, which occurred between June 16 and 17, have sent shockwaves across Nigeria, with the local death toll estimated by community leaders at over 100, though official police figures stand at 47. The attackers reportedly targeted IDPs and farming communities, many of whom were asleep when the shooting began. Some residents insist that the onslaught lasted for hours with no response until it was too late.
Musa’s remarks have ignited a firestorm on social media, where many Nigerians are split between outrage at the alleged community complicity and despair over the failure of early warning systems and actionable intelligence. Critics argue that blaming victims could further alienate rural populations, many of whom are trapped between armed groups and under-resourced security forces.
Defence authorities, however, insist that communities cannot continue to remain passive or complicit in the face of national insecurity. “Security is everyone’s responsibility,” General Musa reiterated. “No army can win this war without the people. Betrayal by locals only empowers terrorists, and we will not tolerate it.”
Calls have since intensified for an independent investigation into the attack and the alleged role of community members. Human rights groups are demanding that the federal government not only hunt down the attackers but also review and strengthen its civilian intelligence networks. As the dust settles over Yelwata’s blood-soaked soil, one question lingers: who really betrayed whom?
