Following an alleged Fulani herdsmen attack in Okwiji Edikwu community in Apa Local Government Area of Benue State on 4th May and again on the 1st June 2025, villagers, believed to be mostly Christians, were driven from their ancestral land and into Ugbokpo, Apa, as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
About 300 households were said to have been affected, with 41 people killed and 15 victims ending up in intensive care with serious injuries. 35 women became widows as a result of the attacks.
Thankfully, however, a Christian group, the Lay Faithful Trust Foundation (LFTF), has joined the list of agencies giving relief to internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The food relief project, according to LFTF spokesman, Pastor Bosun Emmanuel, included cash donations to the widows and those still in the hospital, to support the cost of treatment.
“No one knows when the area will be safe enough for the villagers to return home. Today, they constitute a grim fraction of the 8.18 million Nigerians who are IDPs, according to a June 2025 report of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR).
“We thank all the brethren who contribute funds to lift the spirits of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. God bless you and increase you abundantly.
“As you go through this report, please follow the link below to watch a short documentary on the plight of the IDPs in Nigeria. Join our effort to spread the word online: the burden of the IDPs is great and their stories must be heard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkQwI_N18a0”
Emmanuel called for more donations to the
Lay Faithful Trust Foundation bank accounts in the United Bank for Africa with account number 102 493 7491; Zenith bank with number 131 149 4124; and for donations in United States Dollars through
https://layfaithful.org/donate .
