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.
Naijaonpoint 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.
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.
