Abuja / Washington — A traumatised survivor of the Yelwata attack in Benue State, Msurshima Apeh, provided a harrowing testimony before the U.S. Congress, recounting how she watched five of her children being killed during a night raid.
In a virtual appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Apeh described how attackers stormed the displaced-person camp where she was sleeping around 9 p.m., set buildings on fire, and launched a brutal assault with cutlasses and guns. She said she climbed a tree to hide, but below her, her children were crying — and then she saw them being slaughtered.
After fleeing into the bush, she was eventually rescued and relocated to a new camp, but the memory of that night remains vivid and painful.
Her testimony comes amid growing international scrutiny of Nigeria’s security crisis: the Yelwata attack in June 2025, which displaced thousands, has become a focal point for lawmakers in Washington.
A YouTube-embedded video of her testimony, shared by Channels Television, has sparked outrage and calls for accountability.