One of the survivors of the 2025 midnight massacre in Yelewata, Benue State, Mrs Josephine Aodaka, has called for justice for those who were brutally killed and for the survivors who continue to live with the scars.
  
The call followed the Federal Government’s commencement of  the trial of the principal suspects of the mayhem.
  
Mrs Aodaka, who lost her husband in the tragedy, stated that the once vibrant Yelewata community had become a ghost town, with homes and streets abandoned,  reduced to silence and ruins. 
  
“The town has become a ghost settlement, as surviving residents were forced to flee in fear; some to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and others to the homes of relatives in Makurdi and other relatively safer locations. What remains is a community uprooted, families scattered, and a people stripped of their sense of safety and belonging,” she said.
  
The survivor spoke of a neighbouring family whose case seems to be the most pathetic. Two young men, who had recently gained admission into Benue State University (BSU) were cut in the prime alongside their parents and four other members of their household. 
  
According to her, their dreams, hopes and future were extinguished in a single night of bloodshed.
  
She also recounted the ordeal of her neighbour, Chinasa Ejiaka, who survived the massacre but whose pain remains unresolved. 
  
“To this day, the whereabouts of her husband, Michael, and their two children remain unknown. They were taken by the violence of that night and have never been seen again.

For their loved ones, the absence of answers has prolonged the trauma, replacing mourning with endless uncertainty and anguish,” she lamented.
  
Mrs Aodaka and other indigenes of Yelewata at the IDP camp recounted the killings that unfolded within just a few hours on that fateful night.
  
She said: “Entire families were wiped out. Neighbours watched helplessly as loved ones were slaughtered. Children were orphaned, and women widowed. These were not isolated incidents; they were systematic acts of brutality that tore through the heart of the community.”
  
According to her, beyond the numbers and official reports lie shattered lives, broken families and a community struggling to breathe under the weight of grief.
  
“Justice for Yelewata must not be delayed, diluted or denied. It must speak for those who can no longer speak for themselves and restore a measure of dignity to the survivors who carry this pain every day. 
  
“Anything less would amount to a second betrayal of a community that has already suffered too much,” she lamented.