By Tgnews Team
On July 24, at 10:00 a.m., award-winning war correspondent Lara Logan will deliver a chilling exposé at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., shedding light on the systematic persecution of Christians in Nigeria, with a particular focus on the brutal Yelewata massacre of June 13-14, 2025.
Complementing Logan’s presentation, Iowa-based humanitarian Judd Saul will unveil a groundbreaking documentary produced by his investigative platform, TruthNigeria.com, a project of his NGO, EquippingthePersecuted.org. The film, featuring eyewitness accounts and citizen journalism from Yelewata, reveals the horrifying details of a massacre that claimed at least 270 Christian lives and exposed the complicity of Nigerian security forces who failed to intervene.
The Yelewata massacre, one of the deadliest assaults in Nigeria’s ongoing wave of violence against Christians, unfolded in the early hours of June 13, 2025, in a predominantly Christian farming village in Guma County, Benue State.
Over 200 heavily armed Fulani ethnic militia stormed the agrarian community, which served as a refuge for internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing prior attacks.
According to TruthNigeria.com, victims were locked inside market stalls, doused with gasoline, and burned alive, while others were hacked to death with machetes as they attempted to flee. The village, 98% Christian (95% Catholic, 3% other denominations), was left in ruins, with burned and damaged buildings standing as grim testaments to the carnage.
Victims were locked inside market stalls, doused with gasoline, and burned alive, while others were hacked to death with machetes as they attempted to flee
Local resident Franc Utoo, a graduate student in Oklahoma, will join Logan and Saul at the press conference to share the devastating personal toll of the attack: 27 of his cousins were among those slaughtered.
“This was not a random act of violence,” Utoo said in a statement. “My relatives were targeted because they were Christians, and the government did nothing to stop it.”
The massacre sent shockwaves from Brussels to Washington, amplified by TruthNigeria’s pathbreaking reporting. Yet, the tragedy was compounded by the inaction of Nigerian security forces, who were stationed nearby but failed to respond.
My relatives were targeted because they were Christians, and the government did nothing to stop it
A leaked intelligence memo from Nigeria’s Department of State Security (DSS), dated May 13, 2025, had warned of an impending attack, yet no preventive measures were taken. Military forces arrived over five hours after the attackers had fled, leaving survivors to bury their dead amid fears of cholera and typhoid outbreaks.
Eyewitnesses and local journalists have revealed a disturbing pattern of negligence and deception by Nigerian authorities. Survivors report being coerced into repeating a false narrative of a “diversionary attack” to mask military inaction.
Leaked documents to be presented at the press conference confirm that the Nigerian government had advance warning of the attack but failed to act. Furthermore, evidence suggests systematic underreporting of casualties and deliberate suppression of press access to displacement camps, where conditions are catastrophic.
The Yelewata massacre is a textbook example of a coordinated campaign of religious cleansing
“This is not incompetence—it’s complicity,” said Judd Saul, executive director of Equipping the Persecuted. “The Yelewata massacre is a textbook example of a coordinated campaign of religious cleansing. The Nigerian government’s failure to protect its citizens and its efforts to obscure the truth demand international scrutiny.”
The Yelewata massacre is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic campaign of violence against Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where the Christian South meets the Muslim North.
According to the World Watch List 2025, Nigeria is the world’s deadliest country for Christians, with 3,100 killed and 2,830 abducted between October 2023 and September 2024—accounting for 69% of Christian deaths worldwide during that period.
Over 3.3 million Nigerians, many of them Christians, are now internally displaced, driven from their ancestral lands by violence and land-grabbing campaigns.
This is an organized campaign of Christian genocide. The world cannot ignore this anymore
The perpetrators are primarily the Islamic Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), responsible for approximately 80% of Christian deaths in Nigeria, alongside jihadist groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which account for 15%.
The remaining 5% are attributed to other extremist groups. Security expert Steven Kefas, cited in a recent report by The Guardian Nigeria, noted that between October 2019 and September 2024, FEM was responsible for 47% of all civilian killings in Nigeria—five times the combined death toll of Boko Haram and ISWAP.
“This is not a series of isolated conflicts or land disputes,” Saul emphasized. “This is an organized campaign of Christian genocide. The world cannot ignore this anymore.”
The Yelewata massacre is one of several coordinated attacks in 2025 targeting Christian communities:
- Palm Sunday Massacre (April 13, 2025): Over 50 Christians were killed near Jos, Plateau State, as they returned from church services.
- Holy Week Massacres (May 2025): At least 87 Christians were killed across Benue State, including in the hometown of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, who had recently testified before the U.S. Congress about Christian persecution.
- Plateau State Siege (May 25-29, 2025): Coordinated strikes across six villages south of Jos displaced thousands.
- The Widow’s Cry (June 2025): Widows protested near army checkpoints after hundreds of husbands were killed without military protection.
These attacks, coupled with the Yelewata massacre, underscore a deliberate strategy to target Christian populations and symbols of their faith, as noted in a 2020 report by the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG). The report stated that some Fulani militias “adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity.”
The Yelewata massacre has drawn rare international attention. Pope Leo XIV condemned the killings as a “terrible massacre” during his Sunday Angelus message, noting that most victims were sheltered by a local Catholic mission.
The U.S. State Department also issued a statement expressing “deep concern” about the violence, though critics argue that global responses have been inadequate.
International religious freedom experts and U.S. lawmakers are calling for:
- Restoring Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under U.S. law.
- Targeted sanctions against Nigerian officials who fail to protect vulnerable populations.
- Increased humanitarian aid and security assistance for persecuted Christian communities.
Amnesty International Nigeria has urged the Nigerian government to “immediately end the almost daily bloodshed in Benue State and bring the actual perpetrators to justice.” Meanwhile, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported that the Yelewata attack targeted a mission site sheltering over 400 IDPs, with some estimates suggesting a death toll as high as 200.
The aftermath of the Yelewata massacre has left survivors in dire straits. With over 3.3 million Nigerians displaced, many live in camps lacking food, water, medical care, and shelter. Journalists and aid workers are routinely denied access by government security forces, exacerbating the crisis.
Nigeria’s Christians are not collateral damage—they are the targets
“Nigeria’s Christians are not collateral damage—they are the targets,” Saul said. “This is organized, this is strategic, and it must be stopped.”Lara Logan, known for her fearless reporting from conflict zones, has been a vocal advocate for raising awareness about the Christian genocide in Nigeria.
In posts on X, she has described the violence as a “genocide happening on our watch,” criticizing the silence of global leaders and institutions, including the Catholic Church. Her presentation, alongside Saul’s documentary and Utoo’s testimony, aims to galvanize action and bring the truth to light.
The cost of inaction is measured in lives lost, cultures erased, and a future stolen
The July 24 press conference at the National Press Club promises to be a pivotal moment in exposing the Yelewata massacre and the broader campaign of religious persecution in Nigeria. Logan’s expertise, Saul’s investigative work, and Utoo’s personal account will offer attendees an unprecedented look at a crisis that has been underreported for too long.
As Saul put it, “The cost of inaction is measured in lives lost, cultures erased, and a future stolen.”
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