Fulani Militias Dominate Nigeria’s Conflict Landscape
By Mike Odeh James and Izighe Bitrus Adamu
OPINION. Across Nigeria’s Middle Belt, Fulani militias burn villages, destroy churches and force thousands of Christians into camps, while receiving far less attention than the jihadist insurgency.
Across Benue, Plateau, Taraba and southern Kaduna, the pattern has become grimly familiar: night attacks, burned homes, abandoned farms and families fleeing into overcrowded displacement camps.
While the United States continues counter-terrorism cooperation with Nigeria against groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), community leaders in the Middle Belt say another armed threat—Fulani ethnic militias—has expanded with far less global scrutiny.
For many residents, that perceived indifference has become a growing source of frustration.
A Deadly Pattern
Nigeria’s Middle Belt has increasingly become the epicenter of violence blamed on armed militias targeting rural farming communities.
According to Amnesty International, nearly 6,896 people were killed in Benue State between May 2023 and May 2025 in violence linked to militia attacks and communal conflicts. Independent journalists and civil-society monitoring groups say the real number may be significantly higher, because many rural communities remain isolated and attacks often go unreported.
Rev. Samson Albert Magai of Kings Worship Chapel and Ministry in Kaduna told TruthNigeria: “The activities of Fulani ethnic militia groups across Nigeria, especially in the Middle Belt, have displaced more Christians and impoverished more Christian communities than Boko Haram, ISWAP and Ansaru combined.”
“The people rendered homeless by Fulani militia attacks in Benue alone are about three million. Over 500,000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed, while thousands of Christian lives have been lost.”
Tracking the Violence
David Onyilokwu Idah of the Human Rights Commission in Abuja told TruthNigeria that Fulani ethnic militias remain among the deadliest threats to civilians in Nigeria today.
Although no comprehensive national death toll exists for 2025–2026, Idah cited verified attacks across the Middle Belt:
· More than 150 people killed in Yelwata, Benue (June 2025)
· 51 Christians massacred in Bassa County, Plateau (April 2025)
· 42 people killed in Benue (May 2025)
· 28 Christians killed in Plateau (April 2025)
· 15 Christians killed in Mangu, Plateau (August 2025)
· 9 people killed in Agatu, Benue (August 2025)
“Underreporting remains a serious problem because most of the affected communities are remote,” Idah said.
Strategic Consequences
Adakole Adam of Adakson Security Consultancy, Takum, told TruthNigeria that the scale of displacement should alarm policymakers. “We already have about three million Christians who are internally displaced in Benue. In Taraba State, more than 350,000 Christians have also been displaced by Fulani terrorists.”
According to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) conflict data compiled up to September 2024, about 47 percent of the 36,056 civilian deaths recorded in Nigeria since 2019—roughly 17,000 fatalities are attributed to Fulani militias, a figure exceeding the toll attributed to Boko Haram and ISWAP combined. Analysts caution that the real casualty numbers may be higher because many attacks occur in remote rural areas where monitoring is limited.
An Expanding Threat
Adam warned that the violence is no longer confined to the Middle Belt. “The same Fulani groups are moving toward Bauchi and Gombe states in the Northeast where they are already carrying out kidnappings and killings.”
“As you can see, the Fulani ethnic militias are already moving toward southern Nigeria through Kogi and Kwara,” he added.
Adam warned: “The effects will be more conflicts, more refugees, more crimes and more armed terror groups.”
Why Washington Should Pay Attention
For American policymakers, analysts say the implications extend beyond Nigeria’s borders.
Adam argues that if the threat continues unchecked, the conflict could spread into neighboring countries such as Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana—key U.S. partners along the Gulf of Guinea that serve as a fragile buffer against jihadist expansion toward the Atlantic coast.
“Fulani herders exist across these countries,” Adam said. “If the Fulani militants succeed in Nigeria, others may attempt to replicate the same pattern.”
Debate in Washington
Scott Morgan, a security consultant based in Washington, D.C., told TruthNigeria that U.S. counter-terrorism operations are shaped by legal mandates targeting groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Congressional Authorizations for Use of Military Force largely determine which militant groups American forces are authorized to target.
Morgan also told TruthNigeria that the U.S. Embassy has not been sending sufficient reporting back to Washington about the scale of Fulani militia activity. He recalled presenting military planners with data on attacks: “The response was basically an acknowledgement: Thanks for the information.’”
For families in states such as Benue and Plateau, the conflict is not a geopolitical debate. It is the fear that armed men may return after nightfall—burning homes, killing neighbors and forcing families to flee once again. Unless the violence receives the same international attention given to jihadist insurgencies in Nigeria’s northeast, many community leaders warn the attacks will continue to spread.