The Silent Genocide: Gwoza’s Christians in the Grip of Jihadist Terror

By Suleman Ayuba

Gwoza, a once-vibrant Christian enclave in Nigeria’s Borno State, is thick with grief. For over a decade, jihadist insurgents primarily Boko Haram have waged a relentless campaign of terror against the region’s predominantly Christian population. Homes have been razed, churches reduced to rubble, and families torn apart. More than 60,000 Christians have fled across the border into Cameroon, only to face hunger, disease, and despair in overcrowded refugee camps. Many who attempt the treacherous journey back to Nigeria perish along the way, succumbing to starvation or exhaustion in the unforgiving bushes. This is not just a humanitarian crisis. It is a targeted, systematic assault on a religious community, one that many now describe as genocide.

Gwoza’s nightmare began in earnest in 2014 when Boko Haram seized the town and declared it the capital of their self-styled Islamic caliphate. In the years since, the group has returned again and again, launching coordinated attacks on Christian villages. Just last month, in October 2025, insurgents overran Kirawa, a settlement near Gwoza, forcing over 5,000 residents to flee into Cameroon. This was not an isolated incident. In January 2025, more than 4,000 Christians were displaced from nearby Chibok after similar raids.

The human toll is staggering. Since 2009, over 50,000 Christians have been killed nationwide by extremist violence, with Gwoza and surrounding areas bearing the brunt. Of the 176 churches that once stood in Gwoza Local Government Area, 148 have been destroyed. Pastors, farmers, and children have been executed in cold blood, often forced to renounce their faith at gunpoint.

For the more than 60,000 Gwoza Christians now living in Cameroon, exile offers little solace. Most are crammed into camps like Minawao in the country’s Far North Region, where aid is scarce and conditions are dire. Families live in flimsy tents, battling malnutrition, cholera outbreaks, and the constant threat of Boko Haram incursions across the porous border.

Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum visited these refugees in October 2025, acknowledging their plight but offering little in the way of immediate solutions. Many feel abandoned by the Nigerian government, by the international community, and by the world’s conscience.

The journey home is even deadlier. With internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Nigeria closing and repatriation programs faltering, desperate refugees attempt to trek back on foot. Hundreds have died en route, their bodies claimed by hunger, dehydration, and ambushes. One of the survivor recounted walking for days with nothing but wild leaves to eat, only to find his village in ruins upon return and bokko haram still targeted him until he run again to Nasarawa state.

The deliberate targeting of Christians for elimination based on their faith. A Gwoza Christians elder recently received death threats for daring to call it what it is a genocide and demanding international intervention.

Regardless of terminology, the facts are undeniable: entire Christian communities have been erased from the map. Land once farmed by generations of Marghi, Chibok, and Gwoza believers now lies fallow and is occupied by settlers aligned with the insurgents.

The world cannot afford to look away. The Home for the needy foundation in benin Open Doors for 3000 Gwoza orphans, providing critical support, but their resources are stretched thin. Safe, voluntary repatriation must be prioritized, alongside robust security for returnees. International pressure is needed to ensure Nigeria fulfills its duty to protect all citizens regardless of faith.

The people of Gwoza are not statistics. They are mothers who buried their children, pastors who preach in the ruins of their sanctuaries, and refugees who still dare to hope. Their story is one of resilience amid unimaginable loss.
It is time for the global community to act not with silence, but with solidarity. The Christians of Gwoza have suffered enough.

As Nigerian elites panic over Trump’s military threat, the victims of two decades of massacre ask: where were you when we were being slaughtered

The response from Nigeria’s political class, thought leaders, and commentators has been predictably indignant. They warn of sovereignty violations, speak ominously of chaos and instability, invoke the specter of Libya and Iraq, and counsel caution about external military intervention. These concerns sound measured, reasonable, even patriotic.

But they ring hollow to the communities that have buried their dead by the hundreds while Nigeria’s government looked the other way.

The View from the Killing Fields

As someone who has spent over a decade documenting the ongoing massacre in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, interfacing directly with survivors, photographing mass graves, and listening to testimonies that would break the hardest heart, I can tell you this with certainty: the direct victims of these terrorist atrocities have reached a point where they no longer care where help comes from. When your government has abandoned you to slaughter, sovereignty becomes an abstract concept with little meaning.

Benjamin Badung, a 40-year-old father of five from Bangai district in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, will not be pondering the geopolitical implications of American intervention. On May 20, 2025, his wife Kangyan was slaughtered by Fulani militants. He is raising five children alone, living in fear that the attackers will return to finish what they started. If American military action means his children stay alive and can thrive on their ancestral land, Benjamin Badung will not object on grounds of national sovereignty.

The survivors in Yelwata, Benue State, who I have visited 3 times since they buried 258 people, mostly women and children on June 14, 2025, are not concerned about the precedent of foreign military intervention. They watched their loved ones massacred over four hours of sustained attack while military barracks sat less than 20 miles away. They know their attackers. They know where the terrorists are camped, less than five miles away in Kadarko, Nasarawa state. Yet no arrests have been made. No camps have been bombarded. No justice has been served. If Trump’s threat galvanizes action against those who butchered their families, they will welcome it.

The people of over over 30 communities in Bokkos, who mourned over 200 dead on Christmas Day 2023, are not writing think pieces about the dangers of American military adventurism in Africa. They are wondering why their Christmas celebration became a massacre, why their churches were burned, why their government failed to protect them despite warnings of impending attacks.

The residents of Zikke in Miango, massacred while soldiers stationed less than four miles away remained motionless, are not worried about Nigeria’s international image. They are haunted by a more fundamental question: why did their own military refuse to defend them?

The peace loving people of Bindi in Tahoss district, Riyom LGA, a community of about a thousand people I have also visited and interacted with three times since the July 15 attack that left 27 people mostly women and children dead don’t really care if natural resources is stolen by America provided their farms become safer.

The list goes on. Community after community. Massacre after massacre. Mass grave after mass grave. And through it all, the Nigerian government has offered nothing but excuses, denials, and appeasement of the very terrorists carrying out these atrocities.

The Sudden Awakening of Nigeria’s Military

It is remarkable, and deeply cynical that in the 168 hours following Trump’s threat, the Nigerian military has suddenly flooded social media with posts about victories against terrorists in different parts of the country. Where was this energy for the past two decades? Why did it take an American president’s threat to spur action that should have been ongoing as a matter of national duty?

The message is unmistakable: Nigeria’s government is capable of fighting terrorism when sufficiently motivated. The capacity exists. The resources are available. What has been missing is political will. Trump’s statement has apparently provided that motivation in 168 hours, revealing what victims of these attacks have known all along, the failure to protect communities has been a choice, not an inability.

The Questions That Still Demand Answers

Even as the military scrambles to demonstrate competence in the Northeast and northwest, the fundamental questions about the Fulani jihadist insurgency in the Middle Belt remain unanswered.

The immediate past Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, stated during an August 2025 interview on Channels TV that the process of identifying and prosecuting terrorism financiers in Nigeria is ongoing, citing legal complexities. But who are these financiers? Why, after two decades of attacks involving sophisticated weapons and coordinated operations across multiple states, has not a single major financier been publicly identified, arrested, and prosecuted?

Where do the Fulani ethnic militants operating in the Northwest and Middle Belt acquire military-grade weapons? These are not crude hunting rifles; survivors describe AK-47s, AK-49, RPGs, general-purpose machine guns, and in some cases, anti-aircraft weapons. Such arsenals require supply chains, logistics, and financing. Yet the Nigerian government claims inability to trace these obvious channels.

How is it possible that terrorists appear in public, sometimes armed and in the presence of security agents, without arrests? Recent videos from Guga Ward in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State show armed Fulani militants attending “peace talks” with weapons visible, surrounded by traditional rulers and, disturbingly, security personnel. In any functional state, such gatherings would result in mass arrests. In Nigeria, they result in photo opportunities.

Why is the Nigerian National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, bent on appeasing Fulani terrorists instead of allowing the military to treat them as the terrorists they are? His alleged championing of peace deals that demand no disarmament, no accountability, and no cessation of violence represents either profound incompetence or something more sinister.

The Martyr They Created: General Christopher Musa’s Warning

Perhaps the most telling aspect of this entire crisis is what happened to General Christopher Musa. Just five days before his removal as Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa issued a stark warning to Nigerians about peace deals with terrorists.

“We therefore urge everyone: do not make peace with them. We do not support these bandits or any peace agreement with them. If they genuinely want to stop, they should lay down their weapons and surrender. If they surrender, we will take them into custody, screen and investigate them thoroughly; that’s the proper approach,” General Musa stated clearly.

He continued with even more pointed language: “But sitting down with a bandit and asking ‘Why did you pick up a gun?’ is pointless. It’s driven by greed, and greedy people will not give up. They will never stop. So there should be no truce with them.”

This was a military leader articulating sound counterterrorism doctrine: no negotiations with active terrorists, demand for unconditional surrender, thorough screening and investigation of those who lay down arms, and absolute rejection of the peace deal charade that has characterized Nigeria’s approach to both Boko Haram and the Fulani militants insurgency.

In the same month, General Musa issued a directive to troops to eliminate any terrorist killing civilians and destroying property nationwide. This was exactly the kind of aggressive posture needed to confront groups that have operated with impunity for two decades.

The response from certain Northern elites and Islamic clerics was immediate and hostile. They objected vehemently to this directive, advocating instead for continued peace deals with terrorists. Shortly thereafter, General Musa was removed from his position.

The message sent was chilling: a Chief of Defence Staff who takes a hard line against Islamist terrorists will not be tolerated. Those who advocate for crushing terrorist groups rather than accommodating them will definitely be removed. We saw it happen to Gen Ihejerika at the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast. The political will to confront the Fulani jihadist insurgency does not exist at the highest levels of Nigeria’s government, and anyone who attempts to act decisively will be neutralized.

General Musa’s removal, following immediately after his public rejection of terrorist appeasement, reveals the fundamental rot at the core of Nigeria’s counterterrorism strategy. It explains why, despite a capable military that has successfully conducted peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other conflict zones, Nigeria cannot or will not crush armed groups terrorizing its own citizens.

The Elite Panic vs. The Victims’ Reality

The panic among Nigeria’s political and intellectual class over Trump’s threat is instructive. Where was this passionate defense of Nigerian sovereignty when communities were being wiped out and some occupied by terrorist elements? Where were the think pieces and television appearances when churches were being burned and farmlands destroyed? Where was the outrage when peace deals legitimized terrorists?

For two decades, Nigeria’s elites have been largely silent as communities in the Middle Belt faced systematic extermination. They characterized genocide as “farmer-herder clashes.” They blamed victims for not “accommodating” their killers, they blamed climate change. They counseled patience and reconciliation while bodies piled higher.

Now, suddenly, they have found their voices, not to demand protection for vulnerable communities, but to object to the prospect of someone else providing that protection.

This is not patriotism. This is complicity masquerading as principle.

What Trump’s Threat Reveals

Whether President Trump follows through on his threat or not, his statement has accomplished something the Nigerian government has failed to achieve in two decades: it has forced a conversation about the true nature of violence against Christians and other religious groups in Nigeria.

The euphemisms are no longer working. The world is no longer accepting “farmer-herder clashes” as explanation for systematic religious persecution. The fiction that these are spontaneous conflicts over resources has been exposed. The pretense that Nigeria’s government is doing everything possible to protect all citizens has collapsed.

Trump’s threat as crude as it may sound to diplomatic ears speaks a language that Nigeria’s government apparently understands: consequences. For years, international partners issued strongly worded statements, expressed concern, called for dialogue. Nothing changed. Now, facing potential military intervention and aid cutoffs, the Nigerian military suddenly discovers operational capacity it has denied possessing for years.

The Path Nigeria Must Take

If Nigeria’s government wishes to avoid the humiliation of foreign military intervention on its soil, the solution is straightforward: do your job. Protect your citizens. Crush the terrorists. End the appeasement.

Specifically:

Remove Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser and replace him with someone committed to defeating terrorism rather than accommodating it.

Reinstate General Christopher Musa’s directive to eliminate terrorists killing civilians, and ensure military commanders face consequences for failure to act.

Officially designate armed Fulani militia groups as terrorist organizations and prosecute them accordingly under Nigeria’s terrorism laws.

Launch coordinated military operations to clear terrorist camps in the Middle Belt, starting with all known locations.

Arrest and prosecute terrorism financiers instead of citing endless “legal complexities” as excuse for inaction.

End all peace deals with active terrorist groups and demand unconditional surrender as the only acceptable path for those who wish to lay down arms.

The authorities should arrest and prosecute Sheikh Ahmed Gumi and other clerics who defend and justify atrocities committed by terrorists, individuals the government and media have euphemistically labeled as “bandits.”

Provide justice and reparations for the millions of victims who have lost family members, homes, and livelihoods.

These are not impossible demands. They are basic functions of government. That they seem radical in the Nigerian context reveals how far the government has strayed from its fundamental duty to protect citizens.

A Message to Nigeria’s Elites

Your sudden concern about sovereignty and stability would be more credible if you had shown similar concern when your fellow citizens were being massacred. Your warnings about the dangers of foreign intervention would carry more weight if you had demanded domestic action when it could have prevented this crisis.

You cannot remain silent while communities are exterminated and then clutch your pearls when someone else threatens to act. You cannot characterize genocide as economic conflict and then object when others call it what it is. You cannot accommodate terrorists for two decades and then suddenly discover principles when faced with consequences.

The victims of Fulani jihadist terrorism are not impressed by your geopolitical analysis. They are not moved by your concerns about precedent. They are not comforted by your counsel of patience. They have been patient for twenty years while you did nothing.

If you do not want foreign intervention in Nigeria, then demand that your government intervene to protect Nigerians. If you object to Trump’s threat, channel that energy into demanding that Tinubu’s administration crush the terrorists. If you care about sovereignty, insist that Nigeria exercise sovereignty by defending all its citizens, not just those whose deaths are politically inconvenient to acknowledge.

Conclusion: When Survival Trumps Sovereignty

I do not know if President Trump will follow through on his threat. I do not know if American military action in Nigeria would succeed or fail, bring peace or chaos. What I know is this: for communities that have buried their dead by the hundreds while their government looked away, the calculation is simple.

They have tried trusting their government. Their government failed them.

They have tried appealing to national authorities. National authorities ignored them.

They have tried documenting atrocities to force action. The documentation was dismissed as exaggeration.

They have tried international advocacy. It was characterized as unpatriotic.

Now, finally, someone with real power is threatening consequences for their government’s failure to protect them. And Nigeria’s elites are upset, not at the government that abandoned these communities to slaughter, but at the foreign leader threatening to act where Nigeria will not.

The people of the Middle Belt are watching this reaction, and they are drawing conclusions about who their real enemies are. It is not just the terrorists pulling triggers. It is also those who create the conditions for those triggers to be pulled with impunity, and those who object more strenuously to the prospect of justice than to the reality of genocide.

Trump’s threat may be crude, it may be controversial, it may be problematic in numerous ways. But to the husband who buried his wife, to the community that buried its children, to the survivors waiting for the terrorists to return, it is something else entirely: it is acknowledgment that their lives matter, that their suffering is seen, and that someone, somewhere, is willing to act.

That is more than Nigeria’s government has given them in twenty years.

Picture: cooking pots abandoned by fleeing residents during Islamic Fulani terrorists attack in Januwa village, Yangtu Development Area, Taraba state. Credit: Steven Kefas

…Steven Kefas is an investigative journalist, Senior Research Analyst at the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, and Publisher of Middle Belt Times. He has documented religious persecution and forced displacement in Nigeria’s Middle Belt for over a decade.

Nigeria, Listen!: Your Walls Have Cracked Wide Enough For Foreign Boots To Land

By Luka Binniyat

“America only cares about its personal interest… any country they invade is left worse.” That’s the new hymn of social media patriots and half-informed commentators who believe repeating clichés equals wisdom and hindsight.

“Look at Libya, Syria, Afghanistan and Iran and see how the U.S messed them up! … it’s all about Nigeria’s oil, Solid minerals and envy” they scream, beating their chests online as if hashtags could resurrect the thousands of dead killed by Islamists. Some, probably high on something, swear they’ll defend Nigeria from any “invading ‘imperialist’ force”, with what?

Nonsense!: Whoever has seen American Corporations dropping by parachutes anywhere and start drilling resources!

To me, these scare mongering and bravados are not just empty; they are insults. I take it as deep, stinging insults to the survivors of genocide I’ve covered since 2012. They reek of persons of privilege untouched and immuned of the pains the millions whose lives are being wasted in affected areas of the on going genocide in Nigeria.

Yes, there is Genocide against ethnic Chritians in Nigeria Middle Belt by Islamists! I am a witness to that evil.

So, come closer. Let’s leave Twitter. Let’s walk through what’s left of the parts of the Middle Belt, through the smoke, ruins and the silence where laughter once lived.

If your father and mother were slaughtered like rams before your eyes, killers screaming “Allahu Akbar,” your siblings cut down, your home torched, and your village erased, folks, what the heck do you care about sovereignty? If you’ve ever buried the charred remains of toddlers and grandmothers whose only crime was to be Christian, to be native, to be alive, then maybe, just maybe, the sound of an American helicopter hovering over to terrorists camps might not strike you as ‘imperialism’ but as overdue justice.

From Southern Kaduna to Plateau, from Benue to Niger, from Southern Kebbi to Kwara, and down to Southern Borno — I have covered stories of blood and betrayal. These are areas I can speak for having been on ground there.

I’ve walked through bubbling communities that exist now only on old maps. I’ve interviewed mothers clutching photos of daughters still missing after mass abductions. My team was in Chibok. We heard it all!

What of cases where entire communities were flattened, their ruins claimed by the bush and their ancestral lands now owned and occupied by the terrorists. If it’s in the Middle Belt, Nigeria Press called it “Banditry.” But, to God be the Glory: The world calls it by its real name today: Ethnic cleansing; Christian genocide! – selective elimination of a people as a result of their faith, race, ideology et al.

And what of the survivors? Visit the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps — those unending rows of misery in the Middle Belt. There you’ll meet children who were six when the first attacks came in 2010. They are 26 now, still uneducated, still in tents, still watching politicians fly over their heads to campaign rallies. Their memories are sharp as blades: the night raids, the gunfire, the screams, the running barefoot into the dark. They have become adults in a country that forgot them.

You think they care about sovereignty?

Now imagine the final insult: the Nigerian government spending billions of naira to “rehabilitate” the same terrorists who wiped out their families. Men who emerged from forests, tired of killing, are cleaned up, dressed up, and declared “repentant.” They are given homes, trained, and paid monthly stipends — all while their victims rot in forgotten camps. I saw it myself in Maiduguri, May 2023, with my colleague Mike Odeh. Government officials smiled for the cameras as “former” Boko Haram fighters were reintegrated into society – sometimes to the same communities they once burned. Some of these “repentant” men now live with the Christian girls they kidnapped, raped, converted by force, and impregnated and raise a family with in government provided homes in Maiduguri. The parents of the girls, scattered to the four directions of the winds, can do nothing. The story is even more heartbreaking than this. Can there be a greater mockery of justice?

Even our gallant troops — the true patriots — feel betrayed. Many of them fought in the forests and mountains, losing comrades in battles against the same terrorists now embraced by the state. Soldiers have whispered to me in bitterness and disbelief: “We watched our friends die fighting these killers. Now the government calls them good guys and pays them maybe as much as we earn.” Their morale bleeds. The army’s honour is humiliated by a system that rewards terror and punishes sacrifice. The have an annoying phrase for it – Non Kinetic! Imagine facing gunfire in Zamfara or Borno, only to see your enemy pardoned, housed, and celebrated at a “peace talk.” Some of these killers even flaunt their weapons at government-sponsored parley events, strutting before police, DSS, and politicians who dare not raise a finger. What message does that send to the soldiers risking everything on the frontlines? What do the civilians that the most vulnerable think of their country. They are not thinking of it as sovereign. It’s captured! and by rag-tag illiterate Islamists fighters, not the U.S Army!

So tell me — if you were a survivor, a displaced farmer, a widow, or even a disillusioned soldier — how would you receive the news of America declaring Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” and hinting at intervention? Would you beat your chest in defence of sovereignty? Or would you whisper a prayer that someone, anyone, might finally bring order, justice, and peace to this bleeding land?

Because here’s the truth: Nigeria has failed millions of its citizens. The state has become a spectator to its own disintegration. When governors in the North West hold peace talks where mass murderers attend fully armed with the approval of Office of the National Security Adviser; when killers and génocidiars become celebrities of “repentance” and “rehabilitation” — sovereignty becomes a cruel joke in the psyche of all men and women of conscience.

Those shouting “no foreign boots on our soil” should first visit the ashes of Gwoza, mass graves in Bokkos, the tragedy of Guma, the mass waste of human and material in Wasagu/Danko, the cruel living conditions of our IDPs Cameroon; in the FCT.

Let them stand among these ruins, conjure the wailing souls of the innocent and ask themselves: whose soil is left to protect?

What is sovereignty worth when it shelters genocide and rewards impunity?

Make no mistake: when I say survivors will welcome the Yankees, it’s not a cry for colonisation. It’s a cry for help. It’s the plea of people abandoned by their own nation. For them, the U.S. flag on terrorists sites would not symbolize imperialism — not exploitation, but the faint hope of justice.

Nigeria must wake up!.

It must choose to defend its citizens, not their killers. If it doesn’t, the cracks in our national wall; in our hearts, will widen until foreign powers walk right through them — not with necessary with armour tanks, but with moral authority that traumatized citizens approve.

As someone who has walked through the smoke, heard the wails, and seen the graves, I can tell you this without hesitation: the survivors — millions of them — and millions more who stand in solidarity, will not cry over lost sovereignty. They will whisper, “At last, someone came.”

And when that happens, don’t be surprised if they stand at the roadside, waving at the incoming foreign troops — not as conquerors, but as deliverers — and say with quiet relief, “Welcome, Yankees

Breaking Down the CPC Designation: How Government Appeasement of Terrorists Led to International Sanction

By Steven Kefas

Yesterday, the United States designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for severe violations of religious freedom, a long-overdue recognition of the systematic persecution of Christians and other vulnerable communities that has claimed tens of thousands of lives over the past two decades. This designation didn’t emerge from vacuum; it reflects years of documented evidence, mounting international pressure, and most critically, the lack of political will by successive Nigerian governments to confront the Fulani jihadist insurgency decimating indigenous communities across the Middle Belt and beyond.

Understanding the CPC Designation

A Country of Particular Concern designation under the International Religious Freedom Act represents one of the most serious diplomatic rebukes the United States can issue. It signals that a government has either engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. For Nigeria, this designation specifically addresses the government’s failure to prevent, investigate, or prosecute mass atrocities against Christian communities, particularly those carried out by armed Fulani militia groups operating with apparent impunity across multiple states.

The designation comes with potential consequences including sanctions, travel restrictions on government officials, and limitations on security assistance. More significantly, it places Nigeria alongside countries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea on a list of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom, a devastating blow to Nigeria’s international reputation and a clear message that the world is no longer willing to ignore the bloodshed.

The Fulani Jihadist Insurgency: An Unacknowledged Genocide

For over two decades, armed Fulani militia groups have waged a systematic campaign of violence against predominantly Christian farming communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt states including Plateau, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, and Southern Kaduna. These attacks follow predictable patterns: midnight raids on sleeping villages, mass shootings, burning of homes and churches, destruction of farmland, kidnapping for ransom, and forced displacement of entire communities from their ancestral lands.

The Nigerian government and many media outlets have persistently characterized this violence as “farmer-herder clashes” driven by competition over land and water resources, a narrative that deliberately obscures the religious and ethnic dimensions of these attacks. This framing ignores overwhelming evidence that these are coordinated military-style operations targeting Christian communities specifically, not spontaneous conflicts between economic groups. Survivors consistently report attackers shouting “Allahu Akbar” during raids, specifically targetingChristian farming communities.

International organizations including Genocide Watch, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and Open Doors have repeatedly warned that the violence against Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt exhibits markers of genocide according to the UN Convention on Genocide. Yet the Nigerian government continues to downplay the religious dimensions, refuses to designate perpetrating groups as terrorists, and has failed to arrest or prosecute those responsible for these atrocities despite thousands of documented attacks.

The Paradox of Invisible Terrorists

During my own incarceration in Kaduna Custodial Center (prison), in the very heart of the region most affected by Fulani terrorist violence, I made a disturbing observation: despite thousands of documented attacks, mass killings, and the displacement of millions, I never encountered a single Fulani terrorist among the prison population. The prisons were filled with common criminals, political detainees, and individuals accused of various offenses, but conspicuously absent were members of the armed groups terrorizing communities just kilometers away from the prison walls.

This glaring absence raises fundamental questions about the Nigerian government’s commitment to justice and accountability. If Fulani militias are genuinely criminal groups operating outside state control, why aren’t security forces arresting them? If they’re terrorists threatening national security, why aren’t they being prosecuted? The most troubling explanation is that these groups operate with official protection or at minimum, deliberate tolerance from elements within Nigeria’s security architecture.

Multiple credible reports document security forces arriving hours after attacks despite communities alerting authorities during ongoing raids, refusing to pursue fleeing attackers, and in some cases, actively preventing communities from defending themselves. Some survivors report security personnel withdrawing from areas just before attacks occur, suggesting foreknowledge if not coordination. This pattern of complicity extends to the judicial system, where rare arrests of suspected Fulani militants typically result in quiet releases without prosecution.

The Nuhu Ribadu Problem: Peace Deals That Embolden Terrorists

At the center of Nigeria’s failed counterterrorism strategy sits National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, whose approach to the Fulani jihadist insurgency has been characterized by appeasement rather than confrontation. Ribadu has allegedly championed “peace deals” with armed Fulani groups in the North West that require no genuine disarmament, demand no accountability for past atrocities, and impose no meaningful conditions on participants.

Most disturbingly, these peace meetings have become theatrical displays where armed terrorists attend openly carrying weapons, not as surrendered arms but as symbols of their continued power. Rather than being disarmed and arrested, these individuals are feted, given platforms to air grievances, and often provided government resources ostensibly for “rehabilitation” that never materializes into genuine transformation. The message sent is clear: terrorism pays, and the Nigerian state will negotiate with you while you remain armed and dangerous.

This approach represents a fundamental misunderstanding of counterinsurgency principles. Genuine peace processes require that armed groups demonstrate commitment to peace through verifiable disarmament, cessation of violence, and accountability for past crimes. Ribadu’s peace deals offer none of these, instead legitimizing terrorist groups as stakeholders in governance while their victims remain displaced, traumatized, and vulnerable to renewed attacks.

For communities that have lost thousands of family members, seen their villages burned repeatedly, and remain displaced years after initial attacks, these peace deals represent a betrayal. They watch their attackers attend government-sponsored meetings with full military regalia while they languish in IDP camps with no justice, no compensation, and no protection against future violence. This is not peace; it is surrender disguised as reconciliation.

The Controversial Defense Appointment: Signaling Priorities

The Tinubu administration’s appointment of former Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle Minister of State for Defence sends a chilling message about the government’s priorities regarding the Fulani jihadist insurgency. Matawalle’s tenure as Zamfara governor was marked by controversial policies toward armed bandits and terrorists operating in the state, including peace deals that critics argue emboldened rather than deterred violence.

Under Matawalle’s governorship, Zamfara became infamous for its approach of negotiating with terrorists while often taking harsh measures against communities advocating for self-defense. His administration faced accusations of sympathizing with armed groups while failing to protect vulnerable populations. Now elevated to a key defense position at the federal level, Matawalle’s appointment suggests either profound tone-deafness about the optics of placing a terrorist sympathizer in charge of national defense, or a deliberate signal that the government’s appeasement approach will continue.

This appointment is particularly offensive to Christian communities in the Middle Belt who have borne the brunt of Fulani terrorist violence. It communicates that their concerns about religious persecution are not taken seriously, that their calls for justice fall on deaf ears, and that those who accommodate terrorists are rewarded with higher office while their victims remain forgotten.

The Broader Context: Why Accountability Matters

The lack of accountability for religious persecution in Nigeria extends beyond the Fulani insurgency, though that remains the deadliest manifestation. It includes the Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgencies in the Northeast that have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, primarily targeting Christians and moderate Muslims. It encompasses discriminatory Sharia law implementation in Northern states that criminalizes Christian evangelism while permitting Islamic proselytization. It involves systematic discrimination in government appointments, educational opportunities, and economic development that favors Muslims over Christians in Northern states.

This pattern of impunity has convinced perpetrators that targeting Christians carries no consequences. When terrorist commanders remain free after documented massacres, when government officials who facilitate violence face no sanctions, when security forces who fail to protect vulnerable communities receive no discipline, the message is clear: Christian lives don’t matter in Nigeria’s calculus of power.

The CPC designation represents the international community finally saying: we see what you’re doing, we will no longer accept your excuses, and there will be consequences for continued inaction. This is not interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs; it is a response to a government’s failure to protect its own citizens and uphold its obligations under international human rights law.

What Must Change: A Roadmap for Action

For Nigeria to address the concerns underlying the CPC designation and genuinely protect religious freedom, several immediate actions are necessary:

First, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu must be removed and replaced with a competent, no-nonsense security official committed to crushing jihadist insurgencies rather than accommodating them.

The current appeasement approach has demonstrably failed, emboldening terrorists while failing to provide security for vulnerable communities. Nigeria needs security leadership that understands counterterrorism, respects human rights, and prioritizes protection of all citizens regardless of religious identity.

Second, armed Fulani militia groups must be officially designated as terrorist organizations and prosecuted accordingly.

The fiction that these are mere “herders” involved in resource conflicts must end. These are organized armed groups conducting systematic attacks on civilian populations with religious and ethnic motivations. They must be treated as the terrorists they are, with full application of Nigeria’s terrorism laws including arrests, prosecutions, and asset freezures.

Third, a comprehensive program of arrests and prosecutions of terrorist commanders must be implemented immediately.

Years of documented attacks have produced extensive evidence aboutsponsors, operational patterns, and specific perpetrators. This evidence must be acted upon with coordinated operations to arrest sponsors, dismantle networks, and bring perpetrators before courts. This requires political will from the highest levels of government to overcome resistance from those who benefit from the status quo.

Fourth, the appointment of controversial figures like Bello Matawalle to key security positions must be reversed.

These appointments signal that the government is not serious about confronting religious persecution. Replacing such officials with individuals who have demonstrated commitment to protecting all Nigerians regardless of religious identity is essential for restoring confidence in government intentions.

Fifth, a comprehensive program of justice and reparations for victims must be established.

Millions of displaced persons need pathways to return home safely, rebuild destroyed communities, and receive compensation for losses. Survivors of attacks need access to trauma counseling and medical care. Communities need assurance that their security will be prioritized and that future attacks will be prevented.

The Trump Factor: Why This Time Is Different

While I sympathize with President Tinubu’s administration, which inherited these problems when taking office just two years ago, the reality is that the lack of political will to confront Fulani jihadists predates his presidency and continues under his watch. Previous U.S. administrations issued strongly worded statements about religious persecution in Nigeria but took limited concrete action. The Trump administration has demonstrated willingness to move beyond rhetoric to consequences, as evidenced by the CPC designation.

This represents a potential turning point. Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States has signaled that the days of endless massacre of Christians without accountability are over. The CPC designation is likely just the beginning, with targeted sanctions, visa restrictions, and other measures potentially forthcoming if Nigeria fails to demonstrate genuine progress on protecting religious freedom.

For Nigerian officials who have operated with impunity while facilitating or tolerating religious persecution, this should serve as a wake-up call. The world is watching, documentation is being compiled, and accountability mechanisms are being activated. The comfortable assumption that international outrage will never translate into consequences is no longer valid.

A Message to the Nigerian Government

You have lied to the world about the nature of violence against Christians in Nigeria, characterizing genocide as “farmer-herder clashes” and systematic religious persecution as resource competition. You have protected perpetrators while abandoning victims. You have appointed terrorist sympathizers to defense positions while imprisoning those who dare to defend themselves. You have negotiated with armed terrorists while refusing justice to their victims.

The world is watching, and your lies are no longer accepted. The CPC designation is deserved, and more actions will follow if you continue on this path. It is time to act and act very fast. Crush the jihadists, protect the lives of Christians and other vulnerable communities, demonstrate through concrete actions rather than empty rhetoric that you are committed to religious freedom, and the USA will undesignate Nigeria with immediate alacrity.

The choice is yours: continue the current path of appeasement and complicity and face increasing international isolation and consequences, or demonstrate genuine political will to confront religious persecution and restore Nigeria’s standing in the community of nations that respect human rights.

Conclusion: Hope Amidst Darkness

Despite the grim realities documented above, there is reason for cautious hope. The CPC designation represents international recognition that has eluded victims of religious persecution in Nigeria for decades. It validates their suffering, acknowledges their testimonies, and signals that they have not been forgotten by the wider world.

For those of us who have documented these atrocities, advocated for victims, and refused to accept official narratives that obscure the truth, this designation represents vindication. Our work has not been in vain. The evidence we have compiled, the testimonies we have preserved, and the advocacy we have undertaken has finally broken through the wall of denial and reached decision-makers willing to act.

The question now is whether the Nigerian government will respond with genuine reform or with defiance and denial. The path forward is clear: accountability, justice, protection, and genuine commitment to religious freedom for all Nigerians. Whether Nigeria’s leadership has the wisdom and courage to take this path remains to be seen, but one thing is certain—the world is watching, and the days of impunity are numbered.

…Steven Kefas is an investigative journalist, Senior Research Analyst at the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, and Publisher of Middle Belt Times. He has documented religious persecution and forced displacement in Nigeria’s Middle Belt for over a decade

The Numbers CAN Won’t Face: How Nigeria’s Leading Christian Body Became an Apologist for Targeted Violence

By Zariyi Yusuf

When Abimbola Ayuba, Director of National Issues and Social Welfare for the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), dismissed foreign concerns about Christian persecution with the assurance that “bullets don’t look for a Christian or spare a Muslim,” he may have expected his words to calm international alarm. Instead, he revealed something far more troubling: Nigeria’s premier Christian organization has become an unwitting or perhaps willing accomplice in obscuring one of the most systematic campaigns of religious violence in modern African history.

The numbers tell a different story. A devastating story. A story that CAN, for reasons that demand urgent scrutiny, refuses to tell.

That story comes from an exhaustive four-year study by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), an independent research organization dedicated to documenting religious persecution across the continent. Their meticulous data collection, available at www.orfa.africa, tracked every recorded incident of violence in Nigeria’s conflict zones from October 2019 to September 2023. What they found doesn’t just challenge CAN’s narrative, it exposes it as fundamentally dishonest.

And the crisis is ongoing. ORFA is currently preparing to release a comprehensive six-year report covering October 2019 to September 2025.

The Mathematics of Denial

The ORFA report’s findings don’t just contradict CAN’s position, they obliterate it.

Of 30,880 civilians killed during this period, 22,361 were Christians and 8,314 were Muslims. At first glance, this 2.7 to 1 ratio might seem to support CAN’s narrative of generalized violence. But this surface-level analysis commits a fatal error: it ignores population distribution.

When ORFA researchers adjusted for the relative sizes of Christian and Muslim populations in affected states, the only mathematically honest way to assess targeting, the ratio exploded to 6.5 to 1. Christians are not just more likely to die; they are six and a half times more likely to be killed than their Muslim neighbors, according to ORFA’s population-adjusted analysis in the reporting period.

For abductions, the story is equally grim. Of 21,532 civilians kidnapped, 11,185 were Christians and 7,899 were Muslims. The proportional ratio? 5.1 to 1. Christians are five times more likely to be dragged from their homes, held for ransom, or to disappear entirely.

When Ayuba insists that bullets “don’t look for a Christian,” the mathematics respond with a simple, brutal truth: Yes, they do. And they find Christians with deadly, disproportionate accuracy.

The Perpetrators CAN Won’t Name

Perhaps the most damning revelation in the ORFA data concerns not the victims, but the killers, and CAN’s careful avoidance of naming them.

When most Nigerians and international observers think of terrorism in Nigeria, they think of Boko Haram and ISWAP. The government encourages this focus. Even foreign critics like Bill Maher center their accusations on “Islamists” and “Boko Haram.”

But the data reveals a conspiracy of misdirection. Boko Haram and its ISWAP offshoot combined to kill 3,079 civilians over four years, according to ORFA’s documented incidents. Horrific, certainly. But it pales beside the real engines of violence: Armed Fulani Herdsmen killed 11,948 civilians, while “Other Terrorist Groups”, largely Fulani bandits, killed 12,039.

That’s 23,987 victims mainly from Muslim Fulani-affiliated groups versus 3,079 from Boko Haram and ISWAP. These Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) are killing civilians at nearly eight times the rate of the terrorists everyone is talking about.

FEM is a Muslim militant group credited for most violent attacks in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and Northwest regions. Their violent activities also extend to the southern part of the country.

Why does this matter? Because the targeting is explicit and undeniable.

Of the Christians killed, nearly 80% were murdered by FEM. This is not the signature of random violence. This is selection. This is targeting. This is, by any honest definition, persecution.

And CAN, while acknowledging that “insurgency has claimed several Muslims in their early morning prayers,” conveniently neglects to mention that the primary killing force operates with clear religious preferences.

The Farming Season: When Persecution Becomes Ethno-Religious Cleansing

The temporal pattern of violence documented by ORFA reveals something even more sinister than religious targeting, it suggests systematic economic destruction designed to drive Christian communities from their ancestral lands.

Violence peaked between April and June, the heart of Nigeria’s farming season. This is when Christian farmers must plant their crops or face starvation. This is when they are most vulnerable, scattered across their fields, focused on survival rather than security.

And this is precisely when they were slaughtered.

The majority of civilians killed during these peak months were Christian farmers in the North Central, and parts of the North West, according to ORFA’s geographic analysis. Meanwhile, confrontations between Security Forces and Terror Groups, measured by casualties among combatants, dropped significantly during these same months.

Read that again: When Christian farmers are being massacred in their fields, the Nigerian Security Forces reduce their engagement with terrorist groups.

The ORFA report’s conclusion is damning: “In the period of the year when civilians were most severely attacked by Terror Groups, the Security Forces remained relatively absent.”

This is not neglect. This is abandonment. And the consequences go far beyond death tolls. Survivors report their fields destroyed or seized, ORFA’s data documents widespread “land grabbing.” Unable to plant, unable to harvest, forced to pay ransoms for kidnapped family members, Christian farming communities are driven into debt traps that complete what violence begins: the destruction of their ability to remain on their land.

When Ayuba suggests that concerns about Christian persecution are being “taken advantage of by groups who know what they benefit from foreign interests,” he ignores a more disturbing possibility: that his organization’s dismissiveness serves interests much closer to home.

The Geography of Abandonment

The regional breakdown of violence exposes a pattern of security deployment that appears designed to fail Christian communities.

The North West saw 11,626 civilian killings; the North Central, 8,789; the North East, 5,521. But the religious breakdown reveals the strategic nature of this violence.

In the North Central, the region with the second-highest death toll of civilians, 7,417 Christians were killed compared to just 1,348 Muslims, according to ORFA’s state-by-state breakdown. That’s a 5.5-to-1 ratio. Yet this is precisely where the data shows Security Forces were “relatively absent,” leaving the population “in the lurch” and giving “Muslim Fulani militants ample opportunity for their violent attacks, with Christians as their main victims.” (ORFA, August 2024).

Meanwhile, Security Forces killed 13,480 members of Terror Groups over four years, most of them in the North West and North East. Effective military action is clearly possible. It simply isn’t happening where Christians need it most

The Question CAN Cannot Answer

CAN’s position rests on a simple assertion: the violence in Nigeria is generalized insurgency that affects all Nigerians regardless of faith. The ORFA data poses an equally simple question in response:

If violence is truly indiscriminate, why are Christians 6.5 times more likely to be killed and 5.1 times more likely to be abducted than Muslims, when population size is accounted for? Why does one militia group kill Christians at double the rate it kills Muslims? Why are Security Forces absent from the regions where Christians face the greatest danger?

Ayuba suggests that “groups who know what they benefit from foreign interests” are exploiting Nigeria’s security crisis. But there’s a more uncomfortable possibility: that CAN itself, whether through political pressure, ethnic solidarity, or simple denial, has chosen institutional survival over prophetic witness.

When foreign governments threaten sanctions, CAN warns that “all of us will suffer.” Perhaps. But 22,361 Christians have already suffered the ultimate consequence. Their deaths deserve more than deflection. They deserve recognition. They deserve justice.

And they deserve better than a Christian organization that insists their persecution doesn’t exist.

Whereas CAN, under the presidency of General Muhammadu Buhari – a Fulani Muslim under whom Nigeria saw the proliferation of Islamist groups and more sympathy towards them than any resolve to eliminate them – cried to the international community about what practical indications revealed as a silent genocide against Christians, what could be any new data the present leadership of CAN have that made them deny an obvious genocide – especially at a strategic time when the US and other international observers are focusing on a call that has been on for over a decade?

The numbers are clear. The pattern is undeniable. The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa has done the painstaking work of documenting what CAN refuses to acknowledge. And with ORFA’s forthcoming six-year report (October 2019 to September 2025) the question becomes more urgent: Why is the Christian Association of Nigeria working so hard not to see it?

Full ORFA report (Oct.2019-Sept.2023) with methodology available at www.orfa.africa. Six-year report (Oct.2019-Sept.2025) forthcoming.

The Night They Come: Living with Fear in Northern Nigeria

By Mike Odeh James

They strike as early as 10 p.m.—ghosts in the night, their arrival announced by sporadic gunfire and the haunting rhythm of their war cries that echo through the sleeping village. The sound alone freezes the heart. Families—fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters—huddle together in the dark, whispering prayers and trembling in silence. Some wet themselves; others shake uncontrollably. Mothers press trembling palms over the mouths of their infants, terrified that a single cry could summon death.

In that chaos, families scatter for survival. Some crawl into gutters filled with dirty water; others flee into uncompleted buildings, clinging to walls and praying the killers pass them by. Many rush into the bush, barefoot, with nothing but their nightclothes—unaware that snakes and scorpions lie in wait. A few hide inside the ceilings of their homes, hearts pounding as they hear footsteps below. The Fulani terrorists comb every house, every corner of the bush, searching for movement, for breath. At times, they set entire buildings ablaze, cooking whole families alive. And if they find you hiding, they shoot without hesitation.

The father, desperate and shaking, reaches for the hotline number the military had promised would bring help. He dials it again and again. It rings endlessly, unanswered—until despair becomes familiar.

For four long hours, gunfire rains. The Fulani terrorists—though not all Fulani are killers—move with ruthless precision, torching homes, dragging victims away, firing into the night. Then, as suddenly as they came, they vanish into the blackness—quietly, almost peacefully—leaving behind a village soaked in tears and fear.

When the sun rises, the true horror unfolds.

A neighbour’s wife has been taken.

A young boy lies still, his eyes wide open.

Another man limps, clutching a bleeding leg.

You hear someone whisper, “God, when will this end?”

But deep down, everyone knows—it won’t. Not yet.

They come twice a week now. They will move to the neighbouring villages and later cycle back

Each raid feels like a rehearsal for death. The nights grow longer, the days emptier. And in the daylight, the government’s words sound cruelly hollow.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari once warned Nigerians not to “stereotype the Fulani” for the sins of a few. The Sultan of Sokoto also cautioned against revenge killings. And the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, mocked the bereaved, asking, “Why don’t you give up your ancestral lands instead of dying for them?”

Soldiers clamped down youths who may have dane guns for self defence

But how do you give up the land that holds your father’s bones?

How do you abandon the soil that carries your children’s footprints?

It continued. Then, suddenly, I realised I had grown used to being woken at 10 p.m. every night. Even when there was no attack, my mind refused to rest. Sleep became a memory. I could not close my eyes until 5 a.m. My face thinned, my body weakened. I was becoming a ghost of myself.

When I finally went to the hospital, the doctor sighed deeply.

“You have acute high blood pressure and insomnia,” he said softly. “If you don’t rest, it could kill you.”

He paused, then added, “You’re not the only one. I’ve treated over 50 people with the same symptoms this week.”

Another doctor, a friend, told me he had seen 34 others—each suffering from the same silent torment.

We are the living dead—the unseen casualties of endless fear. We may not have been shot or kidnapped, but we are dying slowly, from the inside.

We are the other victims of Fulani terrorism, abandoned by a government that failed to protect us, betrayed by leaders who preach peace while we bury our neighbours.

And still, every night, at exactly 10 p.m., I wait for the sound of gunfire—because silence, too, now sounds like war.

An excerpt from Mike Odey’s yet to be published book…..

BREAKING: Armed Fulani Militants Kill Three Farmers in Deadly Attack on Benue Mining Community

(Makurdi), Three farmers have been confirmed dead following a brutal attack by armed Fulani militants on Nzaav-Div village, a mining community in Jato Aka of Kwande Local Government Area, Benue State, on September 4.

The deadly assault, which occurred at approximately 4:00 PM local time and master more than 2 hours, saw dozens of heavily armed attackers storm the community and open fire indiscriminately on residents. The incident has once again highlighted the escalating security challenges facing Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, particularly communities engaged in farming and mining activities.

According to James, a local resident who witnessed the horrific events, the militants’ primary target was the bustling mining field where hundreds of people work daily. However, farmers who spotted the approaching attackers raised the alarm, enabling most miners to flee the area before the assault intensified.

“Their target was the mines, hundreds of people work there but the farmers who saw them first ran to inform the people and the miners ran away,” James told Middle Belt Times.

“Three people were killed, two were injured and two are still missing, we don’t know their whereabout.”

The victims have been identified as Igba Mfeseer, Achia Tartenger, and Aondofa Taav Zangwa, who was popularly known as “City man” in the community.

The attack has left families devastated, with Mr. Igba’s first son, who also served as his driver, among the missing persons. Mama Mbasen Nyitar Bigila Bur is also reported missing following the assault.

The incident has exposed serious gaps in the security apparatus meant to protect vulnerable communities. Despite the presence of both police and military personnel stationed in the area, residents have expressed frustration over the delayed response to emergency situations.

“We have a police station and also soldiers in the community but they don’t respond on time whenever there is an attack. It could take them up to two hours to be at the scenes of attacks,” James lamented, highlighting a recurring problem that has cost countless lives in similar incidents across the region.

This delayed response time has become a critical concern for residents who find themselves at the mercy of well-armed militants while security forces struggle to provide timely intervention.

The attack on Nzaav-Div village is part of a disturbing pattern of violence that has plagued Nigeria’s Middle Belt region for over two decades. Farming and mining communities have borne the brunt of these attacks, with residents living in constant fear of assault.

Security analysts and local observers believe these attacks are intrinsically linked to the region’s abundant mineral wealth. The Middle Belt’s rich deposits of various minerals, including tin, columbite, Lithium and gold, have made mining communities attractive targets for criminal elements seeking to control or extort these valuable resources.

The frequency and intensity of these attacks have created a climate of fear that threatens to undermine economic activities in the region, potentially displacing communities and disrupting livelihoods that depend on both agriculture and mining.

In response to the escalating security challenges and concerns over mining operations, Benue State Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia took decisive action in March 2024, suspending all mining activities throughout the state. The suspension was implemented citing mounting security concerns and the proliferation of illegal mining operations that have attracted criminal elements to previously peaceful communities.

This drastic measure underscores the gravity of the security situation and the difficult balance between economic development and public safety that state governments across the Middle Belt are grappling with.

As the community of Nzaav-Div mourns its dead and searches for the missing, the latest attack serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for comprehensive security reforms in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region. The incident highlights the vulnerability of rural communities and the critical importance of improving response times and protective measures for areas engaged in mining and agricultural activities.

The families of the victims and the broader community now await justice while hoping for enhanced security measures that could prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Security Forces Capture Boko Haram Founder’s Teenage Son, Ansaru Leaders

In coordinated security operations, Chadian forces apprehended an 18-year-old believed to be the youngest son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf. The young man, identified as Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, was reportedly leading a small jihadist cell in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, when he was arrested alongside five other suspected insurgents. Meanwhile, Nigerian authorities captured two internationally wanted Ansaru leaders, Mahmud Muhammad Usman (Abu Bara’a) and Mahmud al-Nigeri (Mallam Mamuda), in operations conducted between May and July 2025. These arrests target terrorist networks operating in the Lake Chad region, an area that includes parts of Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where communities have long suffered violence from Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani ethnic militants.

The arrests, recently made public, have generated cautious optimism among security experts and local residents. According to a Nigerian intelligence officer operating in the Lake Chad area, Muslim Yusuf was leading a six-man cell linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group that broke away from Boko Haram due to ideological differences. “The team was headed by Muslim, the youngest son of the late Boko Haram founder,” the source told AFP, adding that the group was planning operations that could have further destabilized the region.

Ansaru Leadership Captured

Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu announced the capture of the two Ansaru leaders during a months-long, intelligence-driven operation. Abu Bara’a, described as the “Emir of Ansaru,” was the overall coordinator of the group’s sleeper cells across Nigeria and mastermind of several kidnappings and terrorist financing operations. His deputy, Mamuda, headed the notorious “Mahmudawa” faction based in and around Kainji National Park and trained in Libya under foreign jihadist instructors.

The two men were responsible for major attacks including the 2022 Kuje prison break in Abuja, the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, the 2019 kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, the abduction of the Emir of Wawa, and attacks on a Niger uranium facility. “These two men have been on Nigeria’s most-wanted list for years and are also internationally sought terrorists,” Ribadu said. “Their capture marks one of the most decisive blows against Ansaru since its emergence in 2012.”

Meanwhile, Chadian police confirmed the arrest of six undocumented individuals, described as “bandits operating in the city,” but declined to verify whether one of them was indeed Yusuf’s son. “They are members of Boko Haram,” police spokesman Paul Manga told reporters in N’Djamena, emphasizing ongoing efforts to curb insurgent activities. Photos circulating in the media show a young, slender man in a blue tracksuit bearing a striking resemblance to the late Mohammed Yusuf, standing alongside older suspects.

Multi-Faceted Threat in Middle Belt

For residents of Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani ethnic militants have operated for over a decade, these arrests carry particular significance. The region has faced violence from multiple sources, with Fulani herders increasingly militarized and often coordinating with established jihadist groups to target farming communities. The arrests recall 2009, when Mohammed Yusuf was killed during a military crackdown in Maiduguri that left over 800 people dead. At that time, Muslim Yusuf was just an infant. His father’s death marked a turning point, escalating the insurgency into a campaign that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions across Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.

The Middle Belt’s diverse communities have faced attacks from multiple militant groups. Boko Haram and ISWAP have targeted villages, while Fulani ethnic militants have systematically attacked Christian farming communities, destroying farmlands, burning churches, and displacing families. This multi-pronged threat has created an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

A former Boko Haram lieutenant who has renounced the group confirmed Muslim Yusuf’s arrest, stating, “He and the team were arrested by Chadian security. They are six in number.” This underscores ongoing regional efforts to dismantle terrorist networks, particularly through the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which has reported progress against Boko Haram, ISWAP, and associated militant groups. However, the insurgency remains active. Recent attacks, including one on Chad’s presidential palace, highlight the groups’ continued operational capacity, while Borno and Yobe states face regular assaults from various militant factions.

Intelligence and Operational Impact

Ribadu said the arrest of the Ansaru leaders has effectively dismantled the terrorist group’s central command. Caches of materials and digital evidence recovered during the operation are undergoing forensic analysis and are expected to yield intelligence on the group’s networks in Nigeria and the wider Sahel.

The arrests may provide critical intelligence about jihadist operations and potentially disrupt activities across the Lake Chad Basin. They may also offer insights into coordination between traditional jihadist groups and ethnic militant factions like the Fulani militants operating throughout Nigeria’s Middle Belt.

For Middle Belt communities that have experienced violence from multiple militant groups, the arrests represent both progress and a reminder of ongoing challenges. “The fall of Ansaru’s leadership signals the beginning of the end of impunity for terrorist leaders in Nigeria,” Ribadu declared. “We will continue to pursue extremists with precision, resolve, and unwavering determination.”

The coordinated nature of these arrests, spanning from Chad to Nigeria and targeting different terrorist networks—reflects increased regional cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts. However, the persistence of multiple militant groups across the region suggests that while these captures represent tactical victories, the broader security challenge remains complex and ongoing.

Sources: Adapted from AFP and regional security network

INVESTIGATION: Military Commander’s Delay and the Army Bullet That Killed Riyom Youth Leader During July 15 Massacre

Part Two of Two-Part Investigation

By Middle Belt Times Investigative Team

The Suspicious Timing: Military Movements Under Scrutiny

The most damaging allegations against the Nigerian military emerged from eyewitness accounts of the attackers’ precise knowledge of military schedules. Rev. Davou Musa’s testimony to Middle Belt Times (MBT) revealed that the militants demonstrated an intimate understanding of when soldiers would arrive, information that raises serious questions about intelligence leaks or direct collaboration.

“There were 10 other people, mostly women, in the main building we ran out from,” Rev. Musa recounted, his voice heavy with the weight of survival guilt. “They slaughtered 9 people to death in the house; the 10th survived with serious injuries. When it was 5 am, they spoke in Fulfulde that ‘it is 5am, soldiers,’ meaning they knew exactly when the soldiers were going to show up in our community. And indeed, few minutes later the soldiers came in after over two hours of killings.”

Even more disturbing were reports from neighboring communities along the road who witnessed what appeared to be military facilitation of the attackers’ escape. Another resident of the community who pleaded anonymity told MBT that “some residents of neighboring communities on the road saw how the soldiers provided safe passage for the terrorists who had a truck to help them convey the items they looted from the community. They looted valuables such as mattresses, palm oil, Maggi cubes, goats, and other items.”

You can read part one of the investigation here.

Lt. Col. Thomas Paave: A Commander Under Fire

At the center of these allegations stands Lt. Col. Thomas Paave, commander of Sector 6 of Operation Safe Haven Joint Task Force in Riyom Local Government Area. Paave’s deployment to Riyom came after residents of attacked communities in Bokkos LGA complained about his “unprofessionalism” in the face of consistent attacks by armed Fulani militants, a pattern that would tragically repeat itself in Bindi.

The sector command headquarters, strategically positioned less than 4 miles from Bindi, should have enabled rapid response to the community’s distress. Instead, residents describe an inexplicable delay that cost lives. “The sector command headquarters is just nearby here in Riyom town, but they never showed up since they left our community around 7 pm, 8 hours before the July 15 attack,” Jambol Daniel, Bindi Youth Secretary, told MBT.

Daniel’s frustration was palpable as he continued: “Even if they were to walk on foot, it should not have taken them 20 minutes to get here, but the attack went on for over 2 hours before the soldiers from Sector 6 got here. We believe there was complicity on the part of the soldiers and their commander, who we later heard said that the attackers stopped the soldiers from coming to defend us during the attack.”

Soldiers of Operation Safe Heaven on Patrol in Riyom. Credit: MBT

Allegations of Military Involvement in Civilian Death

The Berom Youth Moulders-Association, in a statement issued on 25th July 2025, alleged that a soldier shot and killed the youth leader of Bindi during the July 15 attack. MBT investigation revealed that Bindi’s youth leader, Mr. Bitrus Garba, was shot and killed from behind while the attackers were still in the community.

A source in the community who pleaded anonymity told MBT: “They shot our youth leader, Bitrus through the back, he was facing the direction of the pastor’s house, he was backing the Abuja highway and some soldiers were standing there. We strongly believe that the shot that killed him came from the soldiers.”

“We found the expended bullet, and it reads the Nigerian army, how do you explain that? It is either the terrorists had weapons obtained from the military or the soldiers took part in killing our people.”

MBT could not independently verify this claim as efforts to have access to the recovered bullet shell which is said to be in Jos, proved abortive.

The Divided Response: Gallantry vs. Complicity

New evidence from the Berom Youth Moulders-Association (BYM) reveals a troubling contradiction in military response during the attack. While eyewitnesses commended the Unit Commander of Operation Safe Haven stationed at Sopp for their “gallantry role demonstrated in repelling the attackers from one end,” they simultaneously registered “loss of confidence in the reinforcement team” that positioned itself by the roadside where the massacre was perpetrated.

According to the BYM statement, this reinforcement team’s conduct was particularly damning: they “shot only 3 gunshots and nothing more during and after the Jebu massacre,” raising serious questions about their commitment to protecting civilian lives. The stark contrast between units, one fighting to protect civilians, another seemingly indifferent to their plight, suggests either catastrophic breakdown in command structure or deliberate sabotage.

The Implausible Excuse: Soldiers “Stopped” by Attackers

The claim that attackers could prevent Nigerian military personnel from responding to a distress call stretches credibility to its breaking point. For a well-equipped military force to be “stopped” by the same militants terrorizing a defenseless farming community raises fundamental questions about either military competence or complicity.

“The sector commander, Lt. Col Thomas said that the Fulani attackers prevented his soldiers from gaining access to protect us during the attack says Rev. Musa.

The two-hour window during which the attackers operated with apparent impunity, systematically destroying homes with explosives, killing 27 people, and looting community resources, suggests either a catastrophic failure of military protocol or deliberate negligence. The precise timing of the military’s eventual arrival, moments after the attackers had completed their mission and begun speaking about soldiers’ approach, points toward the latter.

Pre-Attack Intelligence: The Failure to Act

Multiple sources confirm that security agencies possessed prior intelligence about the planned attack, yet failed to prevent the massacre. Governor Mutfwang’s admission during his condolence visit that “intelligence reports about the impending attack had been received beforehand, yet no preventive action was taken” aligns with BYM’s more detailed account.

The youth association revealed that “security agents had prior knowledge of the planned attack as the Fulani and their cohorts, who are believed to be the hundreds hired bandits were seen moving in the midst of thousands Cows grazed on farmlands at Jebbu and neighbouring villages.” This intelligence failure becomes even more egregious given that a military checkpoint was positioned “not up to a kilometre away from Jebu.”

Cattle grazing in Bangai, Bachit district, a mile from Bindi. Credit: MBT

The Proximity Problem: Military Assets Unused

The BYM statement exposes a critical security failure that compounds allegations of complicity. The attack occurred in Bindi/Jebu village, which “lies by the roadside to Abuja and a military checkpoint of the Special Task Force (STF) not up to kilometre away from Jebu.” This proximity makes the military’s failure to respond even more inexplicable.

“The attackers did not drop from the sky,” the BYM statement pointedly noted. “They came with confidence, operated freely and left without challenge at the direction, where the reinforcement team deployed stationed itself like in previous cases recorded in some communities of Riyom.”

Governor’s Rhetoric vs. Reality: The Intelligence Failure

Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s condolence visit to Bindi on July 16 revealed another layer of systemic failure. His admission during his condolence visit to the community that intelligence reports about the impending attack had been received beforehand, yet no preventive action was taken, underscores the disconnect between information gathering and protection of lives.

“It is very sad that we got intelligence for this attack, yet the attack still happened,” Governor Mutfwang stated during his visit. “I’m calling on the security agencies to redouble their efforts; we need to reappraise our strategy and tactics.”

Gov. Caleb Mutfwang. Credit: Punch

The Governor’s call for accountability was unambiguous: “I’m calling on the security agencies to arrest the perpetrators, insisting that the era of ‘unknown gunmen’ must end. Can people come and attack people and kill them in their homes and we say they are not known? The perpetrators of the act must be arrested; the era of unknown gunmen is over.”

His message to security agencies carried an edge of frustration: “Let me remind our security agencies again, you are not here for peacekeeping; you are here to defend the lives and property of Nigerians. Anybody that is threatening the lives of Nigerians is an enemy of the state and must be dealt with accordingly.”

However, Governor Mutfwang’s words rang hollow for residents who had witnessed similar pronouncements following attacks in other communities. Mathias, a Bindi resident, expressed the community’s skepticism to MBT: “We have heard such comments from the governor over and over again in Bokkos, Bassa, and other communities in Riyom long before this madness reached our community. We want action, we want to see people being arrested and prosecuted. That is the only way to send a message to future terrorists who may be contemplating attacking communities.”

The BYM statement echoed this frustration, noting that the massacre was “debilitating the early trust we have built in the Operation Safe Haven-OPSH, which we had believed will continue working according to the matching order issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that terrorist elements should be crushed.”

Systematic Terror: Beyond a Single Attack

The BYM revelation exposes the July 15 massacre as part of a broader campaign of systematic terror. While the attack was ongoing, “the same Fulani went on rampage of mass mow down of crops last night in Jol, Bachi, Rinyan and other places,” indicating coordination across multiple fronts.

This broader campaign involves “hundreds of the armed men brought in addition to the ones that have been on ground in places such as Fass, Mahanga, Shong, Rakweng, Sharu, Diyan-Hei, Hawan-Kibo, amongst others, where from the armed groups are reportedly stationed.” The scale and coordination suggest resources and planning far beyond spontaneous farmer-herder conflicts.

Command Changes and Security Adjustments

Following the July 15 massacre, Lt. Col. Thomas Paave was redeployed from Sector 6, Riyom and replaced by Lt. Col Isaac Indiorwhey. When MBT visited Bindi for the third time on July 29, Mobile Policemen were on ground providing security for the community.

Mobile policemen stationed in Bindi. Credit: MBT

The deployment of mobile police reflects a pattern in Plateau State where communities under attack have previously called for replacement of soldiers with mobile police in their communities. In February 2024, following the Christmas attacks that claimed over 200 lives in Bokkos and neighbouring LGAs, residents of Bokkos expressed distrust for the Nigerian army and called for the deployment of mobile policemen.

“He has been redeployed and we are very happy,” Mathias told MBT regarding Paave’s removal. “We also hope they don’t send him to another local government in Plateau or anywhere facing insecurity in Nigeria because he lacks the professionalism required to handle such challenges.”

This concern reflects a systemic problem within Nigeria’s military hierarchy, where accountability often means reassignment rather than genuine consequences for failures that cost civilian lives.

Unanswered Questions and Urgent Demands

As Bindi attempts to rebuild from the ashes of July 15, critical questions remain unanswered:

• How did attackers obtain precise information about military movement schedules?
• Why was intelligence about the impending attack not acted upon?
• What investigation has been conducted into allegations of military complicity?
• Will the weapons used in the attack be traced to their sources?
• What measures are in place to prevent Lt. Col. Paave or similar commanders from failing other communities?
• Why did the reinforcement team fire only three gunshots during a two-hour massacre?
• How can the military explain the stark difference in response between different units?
• What investigation will be conducted into the death of youth leader Mr. Bitrus Garba and the recovered bullet allegedly bearing Nigerian army markings?

The residents of Bindi, like countless other Middle Belt communities before them, have presented specific allegations and evidence that they believe supports their claims of military complicity. Whether through incompetence or deliberate action, the security response during the July 15 attack fell far short of protecting civilian lives.

As Rev. Davou Musa, who lost nine family members but survived to tell their story, stated in his interview with MBT: “I believe God saved my life so I can tell the story of what truly happened.” His testimony, and that of other survivors, has been documented and now awaits official investigation and response.

The deaths of 27 people in Bindi have raised serious questions about military conduct and effectiveness in Plateau state. The community’s demands for accountability, investigation, and justice represent a test of Nigeria’s commitment to protecting its citizens and ensuring transparency in its security operations.

This investigation was conducted by Middle Belt Times through extensive interviews with survivors, eyewitnesses, and community leaders in Bindi village. Additional information was corroborated through statements from the Berom Youth Moulders-Association. All testimonies were independently verified where possible.

INVESTIGATION: How Armed Fulani Militants Executed Coordinated Attack While Nigerian Army Allegedly Provided Safe Passage

Part One of Two-Part Investigation

By Middle Belt Times Investigative Team

A Community Under Siege

The morning sun stretched long shadows over what was left of Rev. Davou Musa’s house in Bindi village—a stark reminder of the nightmare that struck in the early hours of July 15, 2025. This quiet Christian farming community sits in the green plains of Riyom Local Government Area, Plateau State, but now the air hangs heavy with the bitter smell of smoke and destruction, leaving behind too many unanswered questions.

When Middle Belt Times (MBT) arrived in Bindi on Monday, July 21, the village bore the hallmarks of a community traumatized. Only men remained on the grounds, their weathered faces etched with grief and anger. The women and children had fled after the devastating attack that claimed 27 lives, leaving behind a ghost town of mud houses and shattered dreams along the Jos-Abuja highway, just 30 miles from the state capital.

A Community’s Peaceful Existence Shattered

Bindi Tahoss community, home to approximately 1,000 residents living in 160 mud houses—some crowned with traditional thatch roofs—had been a picture of rural tranquility. The temperate climate, reminiscent of European cities, created ideal conditions for diverse vegetable cultivation, sustaining a population of subsistence farmers who had coexisted peacefully with their surroundings for generations.

“We have never had any misunderstanding with the Fulani,” Simon Davou told MBT, his voice carrying the bewilderment of a man whose world had been turned upside down without warning. “They graze around our community, but we have never had any reason to disagree with them over the years. Sometimes they graze into our farmlands and destroy our crops, but that is a reality we have learned to live with over the years.”

The community’s only protection came from an unusual source—cactus walls encircling the small settlement. “These cactus plants are our only form of security,” Rev. Davou Musa explained to MBT, gesturing toward the thorny barriers that had proven tragically inadequate against the coordinated assault that would follow.

Simon Davou’s words reveal the resigned acceptance of a vulnerable community: “There are times they attack our people in their farms, but what can we possibly do? We are a small community of about 160 houses. There is no police station or any security agency stationed here, so we overlook most of these issues by the Fulani herdsmen.”

The Calm Before the Storm: July 14 Warning Signs

The sequence of events that led to the massacre began on July 14, when women and children working their farms spotted an unusual gathering. Large numbers of Fulani herders were accompanied by unidentified men dressed in black clothing—a sight that immediately triggered alarm bells in the peaceful community.

“The women screamed to draw the attention of members of the community, whistles were blown across the community, and the herdsmen fled,” Rev. Musa recounted to MBT. “When they fled, we all thought they had gone, but by 4 pm, they returned, and the information went round our community that there was a threat in the community, and they were identified as Fulani from Hayin Bangai, a community about a mile from our community. You can see the community from here, over there.”

Google map obtained by MBT confirms Bangai’s proximity—less than a mile south of Bindi. More significantly, MBT investigations revealed that a prominent leader of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) maintains a house in Bangai of Bachit district, raising questions about MACBAN’s role in the attack among residents of Bindi.

The community’s response to the threat was swift and followed proper channels. “On that evening of July 14, we tried and informed the security about the movements of people that we don’t understand in our community,” Rev. Musa explained. “We called our Ward councillor, who then called the guard commander of the Nigerian army immediately. The commander sent some soldiers at about 5 pm on 2 gun trucks. We were all happy and confident since we saw the army in our community, and we went about our activities.”

The Army’s Brief Presence Hours before Attack

The arrival of Nigerian Army personnel brought temporary relief to Bindi residents. The sight of two gun trucks and soldiers patrolling their community provided a sense of security that would prove devastatingly false. At approximately 7 pm on July 14, the first signs of trouble emerged.

“At about 7 pm, we began to hear gunshots from the major road that passed through our community,” Rev. Musa recalled. “It was from the armed Fulani herdsmen. Then we also heard response from the soldiers, and we felt better because the soldiers responded to the gunfire from the herdsmen. Then the gunfire ceased, and everywhere became quiet. We went to bed trusting that the soldiers would be on ground to forestall any further threat that may arise, but we were wrong.”

3 AM Assault

At 3 AM on July 15, the nightmare began in earnest. “We started hearing gunshots again, this time around there was no response,” Rev. Musa told MBT. “It was just the herdsmen shooting sporadically. They cut down some cactus fence and came into our community through the direction of Bangai.”

Ezekiel Yakubu, the youth leader of Bindi, provided additional context to MBT: “They came in from Hayin Bangai to attack our village. They had in the past accused our community of killing a young herder, an accusation they couldn’t prove. The government knows the people carrying out these attacks against us and must be decisive, go into Bangai and ensure that the arms are recovered from the herdsmen and the perpetrators of this atrocity are brought to book.”

Sacred Ground Desecrated: Attack on the Community Church

Among the most disturbing aspects of the assault was the deliberate targeting of the community’s spiritual center. The Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), the only church in Bindi and the spiritual heart of this Christian community, was systematically vandalized during the attack. Windows were shattered, chairs were broken, and the public address system along with other musical instruments were destroyed—a calculated assault on the community’s faith and identity.

Rev. Davou Musa, who serves as the resident pastor of the COCIN church, witnessed firsthand how the attackers sought to destroy not just lives and property, but the very soul of the community. The targeting of religious infrastructure alongside residential homes suggests a coordinated effort to drive the Christian population from their ancestral lands permanently.

Explosive Evidence: Sophisticated Weapons and Tactics

MBT investigations revealed the sophisticated nature of the attack. Eighteen houses belonging to 27 families were destroyed using explosives believed to be calcium carbide—a substance that causes explosions on contact with damp air, water, or fire sparks. The use of such materials indicates a level of planning and resource access that goes far beyond spontaneous violence.

The impacts of these explosions were devastating and visible. Building roofs were completely blown off, leaving concrete evidence of the attackers’ intentions to cause maximum destruction. This marks a disturbing escalation in the weapons and tactics used against Middle Belt communities.

A Pastor’s Harrowing Testimony

Rev. Davou Musa’s account of the attack provides perhaps the most chilling insight into the attackers’ methods and knowledge. Having lost nine family members in the assault while witnessing the desecration of his church, his survival allows him to bear witness to the calculated nature of the violence.

“When they got to my house, which is the pastorium of the Church, they started hitting the gate for several minutes before they gained access to the compound,” he told MBT. “We had been hearing all the gunshots, weeping, and screaming from other victims being killed for over an hour. My house was the last they entered.”

The pastor’s decision to hide in a room with goats, while his wife and another woman concealed themselves in an outside bathroom, proved life-saving. “One of the attackers came into the room I was hiding and saw the goats. He was excited, telling his other colleagues that he had seen some goats in Fulfulde. I understand a bit of Fulfulde, so I heard what he was saying. I believe God saved my life so I can tell the story of what truly happened on that day.”

The most damning revelation came from what Rev. Musa overheard: “When it was 5 am, they spoke in Fulfulde that ‘it is 5am, soldiers,’ meaning they knew exactly when the soldiers were going to show up in our community. And indeed, few minutes later the soldiers came in after over two hours of killings.”

[Part Two will examine the military’s controversial response, allegations of complicity, and the broader implications for security in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region.]