On the night of June 13, 2025, armed attackers stormed Yelwata, a farming town in Benue State, killing nearly 200 people in their sleep. With machetes and petrol, they razed homes and wiped out entire families. The scale of the violence was horrifying—but it was made even more tragic by the systemic failures that allowed it to happen: collapsed security structures, missing emergency response, and a paralyzed communications network.
A day before the attack, a severed fibre optic line plunged parts of Benue into a communications blackout, cutting off residents from any way to call for help or warn others. In a state already devastated by continuous violence—over 6,800 people killed since 2023—this kind of digital vulnerability can be fatal.
In places like Yelwata, reliable telecom coverage is rare, electricity is unstable, smartphones are few, and many still depend on word-of-mouth or basic feature phones. The lack of connectivity leaves communities dangerously exposed.
With little or no government support, local residents are building their own lifelines: grassroots digital tools for sharing real-time updates, coordinating relief, and issuing warnings. But these efforts struggle against overwhelming odds—lack of funding, poor infrastructure, and government opposition to civilian defence initiatives.
The massacre in Yelwata didn’t just highlight Nigeria’s security crisis. It exposed a deeper truth: in an era where information can save lives, being disconnected isn’t just a disadvantage—it’s a death sentence.
Watch out for Frank Eleanya’s article today to find out more.
