USCIRF: 30,000 Armed Fulani Militants Operating Across Nigeria, Driving Religious Freedom Violations

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has disclosed that an estimated 30,000 armed Fulani militants are operating across Nigeria in groups ranging from 10 to 1,000 members, warning that the violence has become one of the gravest threats to religious freedom in the country.

In its May 2026 report titled “Nonstate Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants,” the commission stated that attacks carried out by armed actors of Fulani ethnic background had intensified insecurity across the Middle Belt and Southern regions, leaving thousands dead, displacing communities and worsening tensions among religious groups.

According to the report, violence linked to Fulani militants accounted for the highest number of deaths among religious communities in Nigeria within the past year, surpassing casualties attributed to organised insurgent groups and criminal gangs.

The commission noted that although many attacks targeted Christian communities, Muslim communities had also suffered raids, killings and kidnappings.

USCIRF stated that while the militant groups lacked a centralised leadership structure, some factions collaborated with criminal gangs and extremist organisations.

The report explained, “These actors operate in a variety of contexts and with a multiplicity of likely aims and motivations.

“While many Fulani militant groups wage independent attacks, others periodically coordinate with a wide range of other actors, from conventional bandit gangs seeking financial enrichment to recognised terrorist organisations that espouse a violent interpretation of Islam.”

The commission said militants frequently attack isolated rural communities at night using motorcycles, automatic weapons and machetes to instill fear and force residents off disputed lands.

“They often wield machetes and descend on vulnerable communities during the night, eliciting terror as a way to force victims to quickly leave and to achieve greater control of desired land,” the report stated.

USCIRF further disclosed that attacks by Fulani militants and other armed groups had displaced at least 1.3 million people across the Middle Belt, with many victims forced into overcrowded camps lacking adequate sanitation and security.

The report detailed several attacks in 2025 and early 2026, including mass killings in Benue and Plateau states.

“One attack in Benue in June 2025 killed at least 200 people, including internally displaced persons living in a Catholic mission,” the report said.

It also referenced the Yelwata massacre in Benue State in 2025, where over 200 Christians, mostly women and children, were reportedly killed while more than 3,000 people were displaced.

According to USCIRF, some attacks were deliberately timed to coincide with Christian religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter in order to maximise psychological impact.

The report added that in February 2026, suspected Fulani militants reportedly killed at least 32 people in Niger State and attacked Holy Trinity Parish in the Kafanchan Diocese of Kaduna State, killing three persons and abducting 11 others, including parish priest, Father Nathaniel Asuwaye.

USCIRF also documented kidnappings targeting both churches and mosques.

“In February 2026, armed men kidnapped an imam and seven worshippers from a mosque in Plateau,” the commission stated, adding that the abductors demanded a ransom of N16m.

The report further stated that Palm Sunday and Easter attacks in April 2026 left dozens dead in Plateau, Kaduna and Benue states.

“On Easter Sunday, Fulani militants reportedly killed five worshippers at two churches in Kaduna State while abducting 31 others,” USCIRF said.

The commission noted that conflicting narratives surrounding the violence had complicated efforts to determine the exact motivations behind the attacks.

“Some observers have argued that environmental and economic factors are the driving force behind Fulani militants’ acts of violence, while others have suggested that these actors are engaged in a concerted campaign of outright genocide against non-Muslims, especially Christians.

“In fact, multiple and overlapping factors, including religion in many cases, likely spur Fulani militants to attack communities or individuals,” the report stated.

USCIRF criticised federal and state authorities for what it described as inadequate responses to the crisis, noting that victims frequently complained of delayed intervention by security agencies.

“Victims have long reported that security forces are consistently slow to respond to attacks on their communities,” the commission said.

The report also noted allegations by some Christian advocacy groups accusing security agencies of favouring Muslim communities during investigations and security operations.

According to the commission, governors from 11 states launched an initiative in June 2025 to establish ranch lands for herders as part of efforts to reduce violent clashes over grazing routes and farmland.

At the federal level, USCIRF linked renewed government action to the October 2025 decision by former US President to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over religious freedom violations.

Following the designation, President reportedly classified kidnappers and violent armed groups, including Fulani militants, as terrorists in December 2025.

The commission stated that security agencies rescued 309 hostages in January 2026 during operations in Kogi and Kwara states, arresting 129 suspected Fulani militants and killing 55 others.

USCIRF also highlighted growing scrutiny of the over allegations from Christian leaders that the group failed to prevent militant violence and land invasions.

However, the association denied supporting criminal activities.

“We do not support, condone, harbour, finance, or protect any form of criminality, extremism or violence,” the association was quoted as saying in the report.

The commission further revealed that the US Congress introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 in February, proposing sanctions against the association over allegations of involvement in severe religious freedom violations.

Despite recent security operations and peace-building efforts, USCIRF warned that violence remained widespread across central Nigeria.

“As a result, central Nigeria remains entrenched in an intense, daily, and seemingly perpetual crisis of insecurity,” the report concluded.

The commission added that the violence was likely to persist until federal and state governments created conditions more conducive to the safe practice of religious freedom across the country.