By Chondol Faith
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has stated that the persistent violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is driven by multiple and overlapping factors rather than religion alone, even as the crisis has displaced at least 1.3 million people and continues to threaten lives and livelihoods across the region.
In a report released in May 2026 titled “Non-state Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants,” the commission noted that attacks carried out by armed actors from a Fulani ethnic background have affected both Christian and Muslim communities.
According to the report, while Christian communities have frequently been targeted in deadly assaults, Muslim communities have also suffered killings, kidnappings, cattle raids, and attacks on religious sites.
“Armed actors from a Fulani ethnic background have perpetrated some of the most visible and deadly attacks on religious communities—often but not exclusively against Christians—in Nigeria,” the report stated.
The commission said violence by Fulani militants has become one of the deadliest sources of insecurity affecting religious communities in the country. It added that attacks by the militants resulted in more deaths over the past year than those attributed to organised insurgent groups and criminal gangs.
USCIRF reported that militant attacks and land invasions have forced at least 1.3 million people from their homes and farmlands in the Middle Belt, pushing many into overcrowded and unsafe displacement camps.
“These Fulani militant attacks, among those of other actors, have forced at least 1.3 million people in the Middle Belt off their land and into overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions in displacement camps,” the report said.
The report further highlighted concerns that some attacks were deliberately timed to coincide with major Christian celebrations such as Christmas and Easter, increasing fear and psychological trauma among affected communities.
The commission cited incidents across Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Niger, and Zamfara states involving killings, kidnappings, and attacks on churches, mosques, and rural settlements.
Despite documenting the severe impact of the violence on religious communities, USCIRF cautioned against viewing the crisis solely through a religious lens. The report emphasized that environmental pressures, competition over land, poverty, criminality, and other socio-economic factors contribute significantly to the conflict.
“Multiple and overlapping factors, including religion in many cases, likely spur Fulani militants to attack communities or individuals,” the commission noted.
The report acknowledged that some observers regard the attacks as a campaign targeting Christians, while others point to longstanding disputes over land use and resources worsened by climate change and economic hardship.
USCIRF concluded that regardless of the motivations behind the attacks, the consequences have been devastating for both Christians and Muslims. The violence has disrupted livelihoods, restricted freedom of worship, displaced communities, and deepened insecurity across central Nigeria.
The commission warned that despite ongoing security interventions and diplomatic engagements between Nigeria and the United States, violent incursions into farming communities, kidnappings, and attacks on religious sites continue, leaving much of central Nigeria trapped in what it described as an “intense, daily, and seemingly perpetual crisis of insecurity.”
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