Fulanis in Nigeria kill more Christians than Boko Haram and ISWAP, report says

Fulani herdsmen and other “bandit” terrorists often allied with them killed more civilians in Nigeria over a four-year period than Islamic extremist groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a latest report states.
 
“Other Terrorist Groups,” commonly called “Fulani bandits,” killed 12,039 civilians from October 2019 to September 2023, while “Armed Fulani Herdsmen” killed 11,948 civilians, based on the Aug. 29 report by the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA).
 
The better-known Boko Haram and ISWAP combined killed just 3,079 civilians, the ORFA report stated.
 
The Fulani herdsmen form a part of the Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), and it’s believed that a part of the “Other Terrorist Groups” often called “Fulani bandits” are connected to the FEM, based on the report.
 
“It implies that FEM is a much greater consider the Nigerian culture of violence than Boko Haram and ISWAP,” the ORFA report stated. 
 
Most of the victims were Christians, based on the report.
 
“The data shows that more Nigerian Christians were victims of violence than Nigerians holding to other religious affiliations,” it stated. “Amongst the 30,880 civilians killed within the four-year reporting period, the variety of Christians killed was 16,769, while the variety of Muslims killed was 6,235.”
 
Of 21,532 civilians abducted, 11,185 were Christians, while the variety of Muslims abducted was 7,899, the report stated. Members of African Traditional Religions (ATRs) killed numbered 154, and 184 were kidnapped, while the religions of seven,722 civilians killed and a couple of,264 abducted was unknown, based on ORFA.
 
Taking into consideration the relative sizes of the Christian and Muslim populations inside the states researched, the ratio of Christians to Muslims killed was 6.5 to 1, and the ratio of Christians to Muslims abducted at 5.1 to 1, based on the report.
 
“The ratio of Christians to Muslims killed rises significantly when the religious composition of the states is considered” compared with the general numbers, which show a ratio of Christians to Muslims killed at 2.7 to 1, and the ratio of Christians to Muslims abducted at 1.4 to 1, the report stated. 
 
In the full of civilians and security personnel, 55,910 people were killed in 9,970 attacks, while 21,621 people were abducted in 2,705 attacks, with some overlap. ORFA documented 11,610 attacks by which people were killed and/or abducted, and of those, 8,905 involved killings without abductions; 1,065 involved each killings and abductions; and 1,640 involved abductions without killings.
 
“This is a median of eight attacks per day involving killings and/or abductions over a four-year period,” the report stated. “These numbers include attacks with civilians, Security Forces and/or Terror Groups killed and abducted.”
 
Muslims were killed by the identical groups that killed Christians, although with different percentages: 55 percent of the Christians slain were killed by Armed Fulani Herdsmen (9,153) and 29 percent by Other Terrorist Groups (4,895). Boko Haram and ISWAP combined accounted for just 8 percent of the Christians killed (1,268), the report states.
 
For Muslims, it was the reverse: 24 percent of the Muslims slain were killed by Armed Fulani Herdsmen (1,473), and 53 percent by Other Terrorist Groups (3,334). Boko Haram and ISWAP combined accounted for just 12 percent of the Muslims killed (770). 
 
The important area for Armed Fulani Herdsmen attacks was in Nigeria’s North Central Region, including the southern a part of Kaduna state; for Other Terrorist Groups, it was the North West, also crossing into North Central, based on the report. The important area of operation for Boko Haram and ISWAP was within the North East. 
 
“The epicenter of violent attacks was within the North West and North Central,” the report noted. “Most civilian killings took place within the North West (11,626) and North Central (8,789). The North East followed with 5,521 civilians killed.”
 
For Christians these numbers were 5,250 killed within the North West, 6,081 within the North Central and a couple of,595 within the North East; for Muslims, they were 3,678, 1,106 and 1,262 respectively. 
 
In the four-year reporting period, the North West was the epicenter of abductions, followed by the North Central.
 
“The abduction phenomenon began slowly within the 2020 reporting period, but then picked up speed in 2021 onwards,” the report stated. Most civilian abductions were within the North West at 12,042 and North Central with 6,325.
 
For Christians, these numbers were 5,931 and three,277; for Muslims they were 4,976 and a couple of,469, the ORFA Report stated.
 
“The same aggressors that were accountable for many of the killings were by far crucial actors within the Nigerian abduction industry as well,” the report stated. “Most civilians were abducted by Other Terrorist Groups (13,728) and Armed Fulani Herdsmen (6,380). Boko Haram and ISWAP combined abducted 1,023 civilians. The data warns against national and international attention being focused mainly on Boko Haram and ISWAP, with FEM activity being largely omitted.” 
 
Muslims were abducted by the identical groups that abducted Christians, but with different percentages. Of Christians, 60 percent were abducted by Other Terrorist Groups (6,675) and 35 percent by Armed Fulani Herdsmen (3,914). Boko Haram and ISWAP combined were accountable for just 4 percent of abductions of Christians (422).
 
For Muslims it was comparable: 71 percent of the Muslims abducted were abducted by Other Terrorist Groups (5,635), and 24 percent by Armed Fulani Herdsmen (1,903), based on the report. Boko Haram and ISWAP combined were accountable for only 4 percent of the abductions of Muslims (300).
 
While the ORFA report highlighted economic motives for the attacks as herders seek to take over farmers’ lands for grazing, the Rev. Yusufu Turaki, formerly vice chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), said the aim of the Fulani herdsmen and other jihadists is to destroy Christianity and Christians, seize their lands, establish an Islamic state and impose sharia (Islamic law).
 
“The most striking point is that the Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) are killing Nigerian civilians unopposed,” Turaki said. “Mass killings, abductions and the torture of whole families go largely unchallenged as government forces pursue targets tons of of miles away, based on the research findings.”
 
The Islamic aggressors appear to wish to overthrow the Nigerian government, he said.
 
The ORFA report showed that folks were most vulnerable at home. Most civilians were killed (25,312) or abducted (16,761) during attacks on their communities; other, isolated attacks killed 5,568 civilians and resulted within the abductions of 4,771 people. 
 
The Islamic extremists targeted Christians in addition to moderate Muslims who didn’t adhere to their ideology.
 
“Since 2015, there have been consistent reports of disparate treatment meted out to Christian and Muslim captives by members of Terror Groups,” the report stated. “Differences in treatment were observed based on reports from victims or their families, referring to forced labor; sexual violence; ransom demands and release; execution risks; religious tests.”
 
Nigeria remained the deadliest place on this planet to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for his or her faith from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, based on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report. More kidnappings of Christians than in every other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.
 
Nigeria was also the third highest country in variety of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings corresponding to hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750, based on the report.
 
In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it’s most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, because it was within the previous 12 months.
 
Numbering within the thousands and thousands across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise tons of of clans of many various lineages who don’t hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
 
“They adopt a comparable technique to Boko Haram and ISWAP and show a transparent intent to focus on Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.
 
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they consider herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

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