A May 2026 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reveals that roughly 30,000 armed Fulani militants are operating without centralized leadership across Nigeria, becoming some of the nation’s deadliest non-state actors driving severe religious freedom violations.
An estimated 30,000 armed Fulani militants are currently operating across Nigeria, organized in fractured groups ranging from 10 to 1,000 members, according to a May 2026 report released by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The policy-monitoring agency stated that these militants have rapidly transformed into some of the deadliest non-state actors driving severe religious freedom violations within the country. Titled “Nonstate Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants,” the brief highlights how a massive surge in violence has severely destabilized local regions.
The federal commission underscored that 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. The geographic shift and scale of the aggression have notably outpaced other established threats in the region over the past year. In an explicit assessment of the casualty rates, the report stated, “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.”
While the commission said many of the attacks were directed at Christian communities, though Muslim communities had also suffered raids, killings and kidnappings. The violence continues to lack a cohesive, singular agenda, further complicating national security counter-operations. According to the report, while the groups lack centralised leadership, USCIRF stated that some collaborate with criminal gangs and extremist organisations to carry out their operations.
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