The Middle Belt Ethnic Youth Leaders Assembly (MBEYLA) condemns, in the strongest and most unequivocal terms, the gruesome killing of nine unarmed women in Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State during a peaceful protest on Monday.
This barbaric act, allegedly perpetrated by personnel of the Nigerian Military, represents a tragic abuse of power, a violation of fundamental human rights, and a dangerous escalation in the persecution of Middle Belt communities.
For more than a decade, the Middle Belt has been turned into a killing field. Our people have been dragged from their beds and murdered like animals, slaughtered on their farms, and annihilated in their ancestral homes by terrorists and armed herdsmen, often under clear video evidence.
Yet, while these bloodthirsty killers roam freely, the very security agencies constitutionally mandated to protect lives and property have repeatedly failed us. Even more disturbing, they have now turned their barrels against our defenseless mothers.
The women killed in Lamurde were peacefully protesting alleged military complicity and failure in addressing the repeated killings in their communities. The protest was solemn and unarmed. It was meant to demand protection and justice. Instead, it ended in bloodshed.
The victims whose lives were unjustly cut short are:
Florence Frank
Suzy Tanko
Marry Talmon
Mercy Kennedy
Lucky Yakubu
Pwamwasari Tami
Mary Shikauno
Destiny Gibson
Hunbokwama Nickson
These women were mothers, daughters, sisters, and breadwinners. Their deaths have plunged Lamurde into grief and ignited justified outrage across the Middle Belt and beyond.
MBEYLA, representing several ethnic nationalities and dialect groups of the Middle Belt, including the Bachama people, hereby issues a stinging condemnation of the Nigerian Military. We state clearly and without reservation: We therefore call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom we still regard as a leader with the constitutional duty to protect all Nigerians irrespective of ethnicity or geography, to immediately order a transparent, independent, and impartial investigation into this massacre. Anything short of justice and accountability will amount to an endorsement of impunity and a grave insult to the memory of the slain women.
We also demand urgent action from the Minister of Defence, General Christopher G. Musa (Rtd.), to immediately identify, name, and publicly disclose the officers involved, and ensure their prosecution in accordance with Nigerian law. Internal military reports, silence, or attempts at cover-up will not suffice.
“Nigeria cannot continue on this deadly trajectory where Middle Belt communities are repeatedly massacred by non-state actors, and then further brutalized by state security forces for daring to protest their abandonment. We cannot be dying through the barrels of Fulani guns in our beds and then be killed by the Nigerian Miliatry again.“
As Lamurde mourns and the nation demands answers, the responsibility lies squarely on the Nigerian Military through the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to explain how unarmed women became casualties of state violence. Justice must be swift, visible, and uncompromising.
MBEYLA stands in solidarity with the grieving families and the people of Adamawa State. We will not be silent. We will not forget. And we will not accept a Nigeria where demanding justice becomes a death sentence.
Signed:
Amb. Miri Timnan Nyantau (M.T.N)
President General, Middle Belt Ethnic Youth Leaders Assembly (MBEYLA)
&
National President, Tarok Progressive Youth Association (TAPYA),
The Umbrella Body of Tarok Youth Worldwide
13th December, 2025
