Farmer-herder issue

Violence perpetrated by an armed group comprising members of the Fulani ethnic group (also known as the Fulani militia) has occurred since March 2010, when over 400 people died in attacks on villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot, and Ratsat in Plateau State. Violence increased exponentially in 2015, moving across states and now to the south of the country.

Use of the term ‘Fulani militia’ is not a condemnation of a people group. There are many Fulani communities and herders living peaceably alongside farming communities of other ethnicities and/or religious beliefs who oppose this violence. Neither does it imply other ethnic groups do not rear cattle.

These attacks, which claims lives across Nigeria, and which have contributed to the proliferation of light weaponry and a general rise in lawlessness, appear to be perpetrated exclusively by members of the Fulani tribe, for reasons which require deeper examination.

Click here to download the full briefing, which was initially submitted to the APPG-FoRB as part of their investigation into violence in central Nigeria (PDF).