The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has alleged that about 30,000 armed militants are currently operating across Nigeria.
In its May 2026 report titled “Nonstate Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants,” the commission stated that the armed groups, operating in units ranging from 10 to 1,000 members, have emerged as some of the deadliest non-state actors responsible for religious freedom violations in the country.
According to the report, the activities of the militants have worsened insecurity across the Middle Belt and southern regions, resulting in thousands of deaths, mass displacement, and growing tensions among religious communities.
“Violence by 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 targeted Christian communities, although Muslim communities had also experienced raids, killings, and kidnappings.
USCIRF noted that while the groups do not operate under a central leadership structure, some of them collaborate with criminal gangs and extremist organisations.
“These actors operate in a variety of contexts and with a multiplicity of likely aims and motivations.
“While many 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 report stated.
The commission explained that the militants often launch attacks on 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.
USCIRF said the violence had displaced at least 1.3 million people in the Middle Belt, with many victims forced into overcrowded camps lacking proper sanitation and security.
The report also documented several attacks recorded 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 stated.
The commission further referenced the 2025 Yelwata massacre in Benue State, where more than 200 Christians, “mostly sleeping women and children,” were reportedly killed while over 3,000 people were displaced.
According to USCIRF, some attacks were deliberately timed to coincide with Christian celebrations.
“Militant actors have often carried out operations during Christian holidays such as Christmas or Easter to further maximise the psychological impact,” the report noted.
The commission added that in February 2026, suspected 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 attacks on Muslim worshippers, including the abduction of an imam and seven worshippers from a mosque in Plateau State in February 2026, with kidnappers demanding a ransom of N16 million.
USCIRF said attacks carried out during Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations in April 2026 left dozens dead in Plateau, Kaduna, and Benue states.
“On Easter Sunday, militants reportedly killed five worshippers at two churches in Kaduna State while abducting 31 others,” the report stated.
The commission noted that differing interpretations of the violence have complicated efforts to identify the true motivations behind the attacks.
“Some observers have argued that environmental and economic factors are the driving force behind 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 militants to attack communities or individuals,” the report stated.
USCIRF criticised both federal and state governments 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.
The report added that some Christian advocacy groups accused security agencies of allegedly favouring Muslim communities during investigations and security operations.
USCIRF also noted that governors from 11 states launched an initiative in June 2025 to establish ranches for herders as part of efforts to reduce clashes over grazing routes and farmland.
At the federal level, the report linked renewed government actions to the October 2025 decision by former US President Donald Trump to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over religious freedom violations.
Following the designation, President Bola Tinubu reportedly classified kidnappers and violent armed groups, including Fulani militants, as “terrorists” in December 2025.
The commission said security agencies rescued 309 hostages during operations in Kogi and Kwara states in January 2026, while 129 suspected militants were arrested and 55 others killed.
USCIRF also referenced the introduction of the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 in the US Congress, which proposed sanctions against MACBAN over allegations of involvement in serious religious freedom violations.
The report noted that the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria has faced repeated accusations from Christian leaders over alleged failure to stop militant violence and land invasions, although the organisation denied supporting criminal activities.
“We do not support, condone, harbour, finance, or protect any form of criminality, extremism or violence,” the association said, according to the report.
Despite recent security operations and peace initiatives, USCIRF warned that insecurity remains widespread across central Nigeria.
“As a result, central Nigeria remains entrenched in an intense, daily, and seemingly perpetual crisis of insecurity,” the report concluded, while urging federal and state governments to “create broader underlying conditions that are more conducive to the safe practice of religious freedom.”