Christian farming communities under siege as US report names Fulani militants Nigeria’s deadliest threat

Young people protest against the killings following a deadly attack by Fulani militants on Christian-majority villages in Benue state, that left 218 people dead and 6,000 displaced.The protest took place in Benue state in June 2025.(Open Doors UK)

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This week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth commented on the recent strikes ordered by President Donald Trump on Nigeria, saying, “Maybe a year ago, [the president] heard the call ofNigerian Christians who were beingtargeted and killed by ISIS.And he said, ‘Pete, I want the War Department to focus on ensuring that we do everything we can to protect those Christians.'”

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Christiansmake up approximately 48% of Nigeria’s population.Fulani militants, the USCIRF report stated, “have often carried out operations during Christian holidays such as Christmas or Easter to further maximize the psychological impact, terrifying those communities from gathering to celebrate or worship.During attacks, assailants sometimes utter slogans with religious connotations, such as“Allahu Akbar“(Arabic for “God is great”). 

But, according to the report, Muslims are being attacked too.“Fulani assailants have not spared Muslims, raiding herders’ cattle and violently attacking non-Fulani Muslim communities,” the report added.

Coffins arrive at Ibrahim Babanginda Square in Makurdi, Benue State, on Jan.11, 2018, during a funeral service for victims of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and natives of Guma and Logo districts.(Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP)

“Violence at the hands of militants from the Fulani tribe far outnumbers violence from all other militant groups such as Boko Haram or ISWAP (Islamic State West African Province),” Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK & 

While her organization was not part of the report, she said, “My heart has been broken as I have heard stories from women and men who have seen their beloved family members butchered in front of them or carried off into a life of slavery.” 

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Fulani Muslim men pray in Masallacin Shehu Mosque, Sokoto, Sokoto State, Nigeria, on April 24, 2019.(Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images)

Blyth added: “The situation is complicated, and as the report concludes, it is too simplistic to say all perpetrators are religiously motivated.What is undisputable is that Christians are highly vulnerable and often the victims, paying the price in blood.They desperately need protection and, for hundreds of thousands driven from their homes, the chance to heal and rebuild their lives.”

The USCIRF report also stated, “Criticism of responses to Fulani militant violence from federal and state authorities has often described their responses as unsatisfactory at best and complicit at worst.”

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�the Fulani do have considerable political influence as a voting bloc.Thus, the Nigerian government seems reluctant to take actions necessary to quell the violence for fear that they could lose their base of support in the North and Middle Belt.”

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Paul Tilsley is a veteran correspondent who has reported from four continents for more than three decades.Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, he can be followed on X @paultilsley.