Latest news with #FidelisAdidi
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Charred bodies, shattered lives after gunmen kill 100 in Nigeria
A man stands in front of a damaged and burnt house following a deadly gunmen attack in Yelwata, Benue State, Nigeria, June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Marvellous Durowaiye A man looks down in grief following a deadly gunmen attack in Yelwata, Benue State, Nigeria, June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Marvellous Durowaiye A woman stands in front of the remains of a burnt building following a deadly gunmen attack in Yelwata, Benue State, Nigeria, June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Marvellous Durowaiye YELWATA, Nigeria - The gunmen attacked after dark and chased farmer Fidelis Adidi away from the central Nigerian village of Yelwata. The next morning he returned to find the charred remains of one of his two wives and four of his children. They had been living in a room he had rented in the market, in an attempt to keep them safe from a wave of clashes between cattle herders and farmers in the country's Middle Belt region. His second wife and another child were badly wounded in the assault that began on Friday night and, according to Amnesty International, killed around 100 people in the town in Benue region. "My body is weak and my heart keeps racing," the 37-year-old told Reuters as he stood outside the room, surveying the damage. "I lost five of my family members." In another room in the market, bodies lay burned beyond recognition next to blackened piles of food and farm equipment. Authorities have struggled to contain the violence that has simmered for years, fuelled by competition over land as well as ethnic and religious divisions. President Bola Tinubu - who called the recent upsurge in attacks "depressing" on Monday - is due to visit Benue on Wednesday, his first visit there since coming to office two years ago. Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said it was working with aid agencies to help at least 3,000 people displaced by the violence in a territory where the majority Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south. Market trader Talatu Agauta, who is pregnant with her second child, fled when the attackers came on Friday night and took refuge in the state capital Markudi. She came back over the weekend to find 40 bags of her rice had been burned. A devastating blow, but not enough to drive her from her home. "I came back and even if I die here, I don't mind," she said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Around 100 killed in overnight attack on Nigerian town, Amnesty says
A man stands in front of a damaged and burnt house following a deadly gunmen attack in Yelewata, Benue State, Nigeria, June 16, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS Listen to article The gunmen attacked after dark and chased farmer Fidelis Adidi away from the central Nigerian village of Yelwata. The next morning he returned to find the charred remains of one of his two wives and four of his children. They had been living in a room he had rented in the market, in an attempt to keep them safe from a wave of clashes between cattle herders and farmers in the country's Middle Belt region. His second wife and another child were badly wounded in the assault that began on Friday night and, according to Amnesty International, killed around 100 people in the town in Benue region. "My body is weak and my heart keeps racing," the 37-year-old told Reuters as he stood outside the room, surveying the damage. "I lost five of my family members." In another room in the market, bodies lay burned beyond recognition next to blackened piles of food and farm equipment. Authorities have struggled to contain the violence that has simmered for years, fuelled by competition over land as well as ethnic and religious divisions. President Bola Tinubu - who called the recent upsurge in attacks "depressing" on Monday - is due to visit Benue on Wednesday, his first visit there since coming to office two years ago. Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said it was working with aid agencies to help at least 3,000 people displaced by the violence in a territory where the majority Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south. Market trader Talatu Agauta, who is pregnant with her second child, fled when the attackers came on Friday night and took refuge in the state capital Markudi. She came back over the weekend to find 40 bags of her rice had been burned. A devastating blow, but not enough to drive her from her home. "I came back and even if I die here, I don't mind," she said.
TimesLIVE
6 hours ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Charred bodies, shattered lives after gunmen kill 100 in Nigeria
The gunmen attacked after dark and chased farmer Fidelis Adidi away from the central Nigerian village of Yelwata. The next morning he returned to find the charred remains of one of his two wives and four of his children. They had been living in a room he had rented in the market, in an attempt to keep them safe from a wave of clashes between cattle herders and farmers in the country's Middle Belt region. His second wife and another child were badly wounded in the assault that began on Friday night and, according to Amnesty International, killed around 100 people in the town in Benue region. "My body is weak and my heart keeps racing," the 37-year-old told Reuters as he stood outside the room, surveying the damage. "I lost five of my family members." In another room in the market, bodies lay burnt beyond recognition next to blackened piles of food and farm equipment. Authorities have struggled to contain the violence that has simmered for years, fuelled by competition over land as well as ethnic and religious divisions. President Bola Tinubu — who called the recent upsurge in attacks "depressing" on Monday — is due to visit Benue on Wednesday, his first visit there since coming to office two years ago. Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said it was working with aid agencies to help at least 3,000 people displaced by the violence in a territory where the majority Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south. Market trader Talatu Agauta, who is pregnant with her second child, fled when the attackers came on Friday night and took refuge in the state capital Markudi. She came back over the weekend to find 40 bags of her rice had been burnt — a devastating blow but not enough to drive her from her home. "I came back and even if I die here, I don't mind," she said.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Survivors mourn deadly Nigeria attack as toll tops 100
STORY: Charred bodies, destroyed homes and smoking grain… This is what Yelwata, a village in Nigeria's central Benue state, looks like after a brutal attack by unidentified gunmen over the weekend. At least 100 people were killed, according to Amnesty International. 37 year-old farmer Fidelis Adidi lost a wife and four children in the attack. He says his second wife and one of his children were able to escape after being left for dead. "I was told that my wife tried escaping with one of her children, but she was shot in front of the door which is where she fell. They butchered her, so when I came in the morning I only identified her from a piece of clothing as she was completely burnt. I picked her and the child that was with her and went to bury them. I couldn't find the other three children, because so many children were burnt beyond recognition and I could not differentiate mine." While Adidi now plans to relocate his remaining family, survivor Talatu Agauta has come back to pick up the pieces. "I woke up today wondering about my lost goods. I haven't been able to eat and I'm pregnant. I'm wondering how we will be able to cope and eat in the town where we all ran to. So I came back. Even if it's death I don't mind. That's why I came back." Benue is in Nigeria's Middle Belt, a region where the majority Muslim North meets the largely Christian South. The region faces competition over land use, with conflicts between herders, who seek grazing land for their cattle, and farmers, who need arable land for cultivation. These tensions are often worsened by overlapping ethnic and religious divisions. Last month at least 42 people were shot dead by suspected herders in Benue state. According to research firm SBM Intelligence, clashes have claimed more than 500 lives in the region and forced 2.2 million to leave their homes since 2019.
The Star
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
Charred bodies, shattered lives after gunmen kill 100 in Nigeria
Burnt grains and farming equipment sit inside a storehouse following a deadly gunmen attack in Yelewata, Benue State, Nigeria, June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Marvellous Durowaiye YELWATA, Nigeria (Reuters) -The gunmen attacked after dark and chased farmer Fidelis Adidi away from the central Nigerian village of Yelwata. The next morning he returned to find the charred remains of one of his two wives and four of his children. They had been living in a room he had rented in the market, in an attempt to keep them safe from a wave of clashes between cattle herders and farmers in the country's Middle Belt region. His second wife and another child were badly wounded in the assault that began on Friday night and, according to Amnesty International, killed around 100 people in the town in Benue region. "My body is weak and my heart keeps racing," the 37-year-old told Reuters as he stood outside the room, surveying the damage. "I lost five of my family members." In another room in the market, bodies lay burned beyond recognition next to blackened piles of food and farm equipment. Authorities have struggled to contain the violence that has simmered for years, fuelled by competition over land as well as ethnic and religious divisions. President Bola Tinubu - who called the recent upsurge in attacks "depressing" on Monday - is due to visit Benue on Wednesday, his first visit there since coming to office two years ago. Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said it was working with aid agencies to help at least 3,000 people displaced by the violence in a territory where the majority Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south. Market trader Talatu Agauta, who is pregnant with her second child, fled when the attackers came on Friday night and took refuge in the state capital Markudi. She came back over the weekend to find 40 bags of her rice had been burned. A devastating blow, but not enough to drive her from her home. "I came back and even if I die here, I don't mind," she said. (Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
