Tens of thousands of Christians are losing their lives to violence in Nigeria, many of them at the hands of radicalised Fulani herdsmen, a new report has warned.
Published by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), the 105-page study examines killings and abductions recorded between October 2019 and September 2025.
It recorded 28,551 Christian deaths compared with 13,224 Muslim deaths during the reporting period.
After adjusting for the size of local religious populations in affected states, the death rate of Christians was around 4.4 times higher than Muslims.
Three quarters of civilian deaths occurred during attacks on farming communities, often involving killings, abductions, sexual violence and the destruction of homes and livelihoods.
Abductions feature prominently in the study. ORFA recorded 34,773 civilian kidnappings, with the “Fulani Terror Groups” accounting for 43% and “unidentified terror groups” a further 49%.
Based on field research, the report further alleges that Christian and Muslim hostages frequently experience different treatment in captivity, with Christians more likely to need higher ransoms for their release and at greater risk of violence and execution. In the case of women and girls, forced conversion, severe sexual violence and coerced marriage were more prevalent among Christian hostages.
The report draws on information gathered by Nigerian partners alongside the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project, to analyse more than 15,000 deadly attacks and almost 4,600 abduction incidents across the country between 2019 and 2025.
According to the report, 79,323 people lost their lives during the six-year period – equivalent to 36 a day. The total includes 42,033 civilians.
It attributes much of the violence to Fulani terror groups who it said were responsible for 44% of civilian deaths – 18,577 people. ‘Unidentified’ terror groups accounted for around a third (32%). Other killings were caused by Boko Haram (8%) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) (4%), while 12% were civilian killings.
In the report, ORFA differentiates between armed militant groups and the wider Fulani ethnic community, most of whom it said play no part in the violence.
“Violence linked to Fulani militias is the dominant force behind Nigeria’s death toll,” said ORFA senior research analyst, Frans Vierhout. “The Western preoccupation with Boko Haram is, at best, misleading. Nigeria is incubating a terror network which the outside world has yet to acknowledge.”
The report highlights what it describes as a significant religious dimension to the conflict and describes how a once largely peaceful coexistence between Christian farming communities and Muslim Fulani herders in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has degenerated into regular bloodshed since the early 2000s.
The change has been attributed to the spread of extremist Islamist ideology through the Izala movement, as well as the introduction of Sharia law in several northern states, and what is described as the growing northern political influence of “Fulani ethnic supremacy”, which has paved the way for the emergence of armed ethnic militias.
The report concludes with seven policy recommendations, including greater international attention to freedom of religion or belief, increased pressure on Nigerian authorities to tackle the violence and end a culture of impunity, improved cooperation between federal and state governments, expansion of accountable community policing, and enhanced support for victims through trauma counselling and reintegration programmes.
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