A new intelligence report by the United States has claimed that about 30,000 armed Fulani militants are currently across Nigeria, fuelling insecurity in the country.
The report released by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom revealed that the estimated 30,000 armed Fulani militants are operating across Nigeria in groups ranging from 10 to 1,000 members.
According to the report, these armed Fulani militants operating in Nigeria have grown to become some of the deadliest non-state actors driving religious freedom violations across the country.
Titled “Nonstate Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants,” the report said attacks carried out by armed actors of Fulani ethnic background intensified insecurity across the Middle Belt and Southern regions, leaving thousands dead, displacing communities, and deepening tensions between religious groups.
“Violence by Fulani militants caused the highest number of deaths among all religious communities in Nigeria over the last year as compared to attacks by organised insurgent groups and criminal gangs,” the report stated.
The commission said many of the attacks were directed at Christian communities, though Muslim communities had also suffered raids, killings, and kidnappings.
While the groups lack centralised leadership, USCIRF stated that some collaborate 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 noted that militants frequently attack isolated rural communities at night using motorcycles, automatic weapons, and machetes.
“They often wield machetes and descend on vulnerable communities during the night, eliciting terror as a way to force victims to leave quickly and to achieve greater control of desired land,” the report said.
USCIRF explained that attacks by Fulani militants and other armed groups had displaced at least 1.3 million people in the Middle Belt, forcing many into overcrowded camps lacking adequate sanitation and security.
The report detailed several attacks carried out 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.
USCIRF also cited the massacre in Yelwata, Benue State, in 2025, where more than 200 Christians, “mostly sleeping women and children,” were reportedly killed and over 3,000 people displaced.
The commission said militants deliberately timed some attacks to coincide with Christian religious holidays.
“Militant actors have often carried out operations during Christian holidays such as Christmas or Easter to maximise the psychological impact further,” the report stated.
It 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 people and abducting 11 others, including parish priest Father Nathaniel Asuwaye.
The report also documented kidnappings targeting both churches and mosques.
“In February 2026, armed men kidnapped an imam and seven worshipers from a mosque in Plateau,” USCIRF stated, adding that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of N16m.
The commission said 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,” the report stated.
USCIRF said conflicting narratives surrounding the violence had complicated efforts to determine the motivations behind the attacks.
The commission highlighted, “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 criticised the federal and state authorities for what it described as inadequate responses to the violence.
“Victims have long reported that security forces are consistently slow to respond to attacks on their communities,” the commission stated.
USCIRF further stated that some Christian advocates accused security agencies of showing favouritism toward Muslim communities during investigations and security operations.
The report noted that governors from 11 states launched an initiative in June 2025 to establish ranch lands for herders in a bid to reduce clashes over grazing routes and farmland.
This development comes after U.S President Donald Trump designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over religious persecution.
Following the designation, President Bola Tinubu classified kidnappers and violent armed groups, including Fulani militants, as “terrorists” in December 2025.
Also, the U.S and Nigeria have been working together since then, including joint operations targeting terrorists in the Northern region.
