The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has said an estimated 30,000 armed Fulani militants are operating across Nigeria in groups ranging from 10 to 1,000 members.
This online medium reports that the commission stated this in its May 2026 report titled, Nonstate Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants.
According to the report, the militants have become some of the deadliest non-state actors driving religious freedom violations in Nigeria.
USCIRF said attacks carried out by armed actors of Fulani ethnic background had intensified insecurity across the Middle Belt and Southern regions.
It said the violence had left thousands dead, displaced communities and deepened 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, although Muslim communities had also suffered raids, killings and kidnappings.
The report said the groups do not have a centralised leadership structure but sometimes collaborate with criminal gangs and extremist organisations.
The report said, “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.”
USCIRF said the militants often 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 quickly leave and to achieve greater control of desired land,” the report added.
The commission said attacks by Fulani militants and other armed groups had displaced at least 1.3 million people in the Middle Belt.
It said many of the displaced persons were forced into overcrowded camps lacking adequate sanitation and security.
The report also cited 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,” USCIRF said.
It also referenced the 2025 Yelwata massacre in Benue State, where more than 200 Christians, “mostly sleeping women and children,” were reportedly killed and over 3,000 people displaced.
Attacks Timed Around Christian Holidays
USCIRF said some attacks were deliberately carried out during Christian religious holidays.
“Militant actors have often carried out operations during Christian holidays such as Christmas or Easter to further maximise the psychological impact,” the report stated.
It said suspected Fulani militants killed at least 32 people in Niger State in February 2026.
The report also said Holy Trinity Parish in the Kafanchan Diocese of Kaduna State was attacked, with three people killed and 11 others abducted, including the parish priest, Father Nathaniel Asuwaye.
USCIRF also documented kidnappings targeting both churches and mosques.
“In February 2026, armed men kidnapped an imam and seven worshipers from a mosque in Plateau,” the report stated, adding that the abductors demanded ₦16m ransom.
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,” it added.
The report said conflicting narratives about the violence had complicated efforts to determine the motivations behind the attacks.
The commission said, “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.”
USCIRF Faults Govt Response
The commission criticised 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,” USCIRF said.
It added that some Christian advocates accused security agencies of favouring 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.
USCIRF linked renewed Federal Government action to the October 2025 decision by US President, Donald Trump, to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over religious freedom violations.
The commission said President Bola Tinubu classified kidnappers and violent armed groups, including Fulani militants, as “terrorists” in December 2025.
It added 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.
MACBAN Denies Backing Violence
The report also highlighted growing scrutiny of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).
It said the organisation had faced allegations from Christian leaders that it failed to stop militant violence and land invasions.
MACBAN, however, denied supporting criminal activity.
“We do not support, condone, harbour, finance, or protect any form of criminality, extremism or violence,” the association said, according to the report.
USCIRF said the US Congress introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 in February, proposing sanctions against MACBAN over allegations of involvement in severe religious freedom violations.
Despite recent security measures and peace initiatives, the commission warned that violence remained widespread.
“As a result, central Nigeria remains entrenched in an intense, daily, and seemingly perpetual crisis of insecurity,” the report concluded.
USCIRF said the crisis was likely to continue “until the federal and several state governments create broader underlying conditions that are more conducive to the safe practice of religious freedom.”
