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When PREMIUM TIMES met 52-year-old Ioryue Mwuaga on a muddy road outside Aye-Twar in the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, he was returning from a neighbouring village where he had gone in search of food.
His nine-member family fled their ancestral home after repeated attacks by suspected cattle herders, and now squats in an overcrowded compound. “We left everything behind,” he said, his voice low. “Life has become unbearable for us. My children wake up every day without food or shelter. We no longer have a place we can call home.”
Just 18 kilometres from Aye-Twar, Hemban Tyav, a widow and mother of four, now stays with relatives in an uncompleted building that has no door. The family sleeps exposed to mosquitoes, with no nets or bedding, since they fled without carrying anything.
“My children cry every night because of the mosquito bites,” she told PREMIUM TIMES, fighting back tears. “I cannot go back to my home because I am afraid of another attack. But here too, life is miserable.”
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The two survivors are among thousands of residents uprooted from their homes after gunmen suspected to be herders attacked the Aye-Twar community on Sunday, 10 August. The attack, which spilled into the following day, left homes and worship centres in ruins, worsening the humanitarian crisis already weighing heavily on the displaced residents.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited St. Paul’s Parish, Aye-Twar (Agu Centre) in Katsina-Ala LGA, the church building lay in complete wreckage.
The parish priest’s residence had been reduced to ashes, with charred walls and twisted roofing sheets standing as the only reminders of what was once a home. Two burnt vehicles sat in the compound, their frames blackened beyond recognition. Sacred items — including the tabernacle, communion vessels, and hymnals — were destroyed, leaving parishioners devastated.
Church officials confirmed that sustained raids in recent months had earlier forced the parish priest, Titus Shimanyian, to relocate, leaving behind a congregation struggling to keep their faith alive. On what should have been a day of worship, the church grounds were instead filled with anxious residents sitting in small circles, whispering in worry. “We don’t know what will happen tonight,” one parishioner said, glancing nervously at the empty sky. With no security presence in sight, fear hung thick over the community.
Church confirms scale of destruction
In a statement on Monday, the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests’ Association (NCDPA), Katsina-Ala Diocese, said the attack on St. Paul’s Parish, Aye-Twar, left widespread destruction.
According to the association, the parish priest’s residence, the parish secretariat, church facilities, vehicles, household items and pastoral logistics were destroyed in the attack.
“At the moment, the entire Agu Centre community has been deserted by the locals for fear of more attacks,” said. Samuel Fila, Chairman of the NCDPA in Katsina-Ala Diocese. “The attack left in its wake the desecration and destruction of the Parish Church, the Parish Secretariat, the Father’s House and many other valuable items.”
The association also noted that the assault forced the shutdown of pastoral activities in at least 26 outstations, some of which, it alleged, were now occupied by armed groups.
A parish with painful history
The NCDPA recalled that St. Paul’s Parish, Aye-Twar, had previously suffered tragedy. “This was the same parish where our brother, Fr. Ferdinand Ngugban, of blessed memory, was gruesomely murdered on 30 March 2021 in the same Father’s House that has now been reduced to ashes,” the statement read.
When Mr Ngugban was murdered in 2021, witnesses said the priest had just finished celebrating morning Mass when armed men stormed the church, asking for the whereabouts of the parish priest. When the priest refused to disclose it; he was shot dead on the spot.
The assailants also killed three parishioners — Mfave Tumachihi, Mbangohor Tsebo, and Orlukaa Ulu — before setting parts of the Agu Centre ablaze. The killing of Mr Ngugban, described then as a devastating blow to the Catholic community in Katsina-Ala, underscored the vulnerability of worshippers and deepened fears of insecurity across the region.
Alleged government inaction
The Catholic priests condemned the “alarming and brutal assaults” in the area, particularly the 10–11 August incident. They expressed dismay that security agencies and government authorities failed to intervene during the attack.
“This occurrence not only represents an attack against the Church and the Diocese of Katsina-Ala, but a direct challenge to government, security operatives, and traditional institutions,” Mr Fila said. “The security situation has since gone beyond the narrative of ‘farmer-herder conflict’ and has become a well-coordinated effort at displacing communities.”
The association alleged that attackers often retreated into neighbouring communities in Taraba State after raids, saying that these hideouts were “known to government and security personnel, who typically look the other way.”
Call for justice
The priests urged the government at all levels to rebuild St. Paul’s Parish, provide restitution for damages, and ensure the safe return of displaced residents. They also demanded a joint investigation by the Benue and Taraba state governments into the attacks.
Other demands include the establishment of permanent security posts in Aye-Twar, construction of key access roads to facilitate quicker response during emergencies, and improved collaboration between security agencies.
“The Benue State government must rise fearlessly to the occasion, regardless of bureaucratic challenges,” the statement read. “Perpetrators of these reprehensible acts must be held accountable for their crimes.”
‘Church remains unshaken’
Despite the destruction, the NCDPA said the diocese remains committed to its peacebuilding role in Sankera and beyond. It pledged to continue advocating for justice, human rights, and reconciliation in affected communities.
“The Church of God cannot be overcome by evil. The physical structures may be burnt down, but the faith we profess is alive in our hearts and can never be destroyed by fire or violence,” the statement concluded.
The priests also called on all parishes in the diocese to dedicate nine days of prayer and fasting for peace and the restoration of normalcy in the land.
A bloody history of church attacks in Benue
The killing of Mr Ngugban in 2021 was not the first time Catholic priests and parishioners in Benue had come under deadly assault.
On 24 April 2018, gunmen suspected to be herders stormed St. Ignatius Quasi Parish, Ukpor-Mbalom, in Gwer West Local Government Area, opening fire during morning Mass. Two priests — Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha — were killed alongside at least 15 worshippers.
The attackers also razed houses and destroyed farmlands. At the time, the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi lamented that the killings were a direct attack on the Church and its peacebuilding role in the state. It warned that the repeated targeting of priests and worshippers was deepening insecurity and further eroding confidence in the ability of security agencies to protect citizens.
Part of a wider wave of killings in Benue
The attack on St. Paul’s Parish, Aye-Twar, fits into a disturbing pattern of violence that has left hundreds dead across Benue State in recent months.
On 14 June, gunmen struck the Yelwata community in the Guma Local Government Area, killing more than 100 people, according to preliminary findings by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Among the victims were two soldiers and an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). Dozens sustained injuries, with at least 46 people rushed to hospitals; 20 of them later died from their wounds.
The Yelwata killings, one of the deadliest single incidents in the state this year, came amid a string of assaults on rural communities in Benue and neighbouring Plateau. Victims included men, women, and children, with survand peopleng experiences, including cases of sexual violence.
Police react
When contacted, the police public relations officer in Benue, Catherine Edet, said she was not yet aware of the attack.
“I have to check if something like that happened,” she told PREMIUM TIMES, adding that she would verify the incident with officers on the ground.
She, however, noted that since the attacks were reported to have occurred last week, she would need to check her records. “I will find out from my officers there. I’m kind of in the middle of something now,” she added.
Government’s position
When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Tersoo Kula, said he didn’t have details of the reported attack.
“I need to confirm from the Ministry of Homeland Security which is in charge of security,” he told Premium Times.
Asked about the efforts of the Governor Alia administration to curb insecurity in the state, Mr Kula said he would have to consult with relevant authorities before providing an update.
“I have to revert to the relevant authorities in charge of security before telling you what the government is doing,” he said.
Violence continues despite the president’s visit
President Bola Tinubu visited Makurdi in mid-June, calling the Yelwata massacre “senseless bloodletting” and urging security chiefs to “fish the criminals out” amid rising national concern. He directed service chiefs and the IGP to act decisively. However, the violence did not abate.
The Yelwata attack alone left between 100 and 150 people dead, with hundreds more injured, homes and markets razed, and families displaced. Humanitarian groups, including Amnesty International, later reported that more than 500,000 people across Benue State have been internally displaced—many languishing in overcrowded camps without access to necessities like food, healthcare, or clean water.
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The latest assault on Aye-Twar mirrors what the Institute for Security Studies has described as the state’s repeated promises of protection that have failed to translate into meaningful action. Across North-central Nigeria, the government’s approach to intelligence gathering has been reactive at best and ineffective at worst, leaving rural communities dangerously exposed. Rather than restoring confidence, the steady rise in attacks underscores the widening gap between official assurances and the lived realities of citizens whose safety is eroded week after week.
Beyond the rhetoric, analysts argue that authorities continue to misdiagnose the crisis — framing it as terrorism, climate-induced clashes, or isolated farmer-herder disputes — while ignoring its roots in protracted and coordinated criminality.
Negotiations with heavily armed groups, often initiated by sub-national governments lacking control of the military or police, have further weakened state authority. Experts say the Nigerian government must revamp and deploy all instruments of national power — the army, police, and judiciary — to address violent crime with intelligence-driven action and deterrence.
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