Nigeria: Lesser known terror groups have ‘tacit approval’

An average of seven deadly terror attacks took place every day in Nigeria in recent years, but much of the blame goes to the wrong parties and does not acknowledge that the country is “incubating a terror network”, according to new research.

A six-year study released by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) revealed that 79,323 people were killed in Nigeria between 2020 and 2025, with more than 42,000 victims believed to be innocent civilians.

The study is another indicator of the scale of persecution towards Christians in Nigeria, with the research finding that twice as many Christians were killed during the research period as Muslims, having huge impacts on the populations of predominantly Christian communities.

ORFA Senior Research Analyst Steven Kefas told en that while the study sought to examine the overall picture of violence, tracking everyone affected, the data “confirms something that had long been said, but never proven: that Christian communities are being disproportionately targeted”.

Researchers found the evidence to be “pointing strongly in one direction” when factors including targeting and attack locations are considered. Additionally, Christians who had been captured tended to be treated more harshly than Muslims, with increased risk of higher ransom demands, sexual violence and executions.

Fulani terror groups were found to be responsible for 44% of all civilian deaths, compared to just 8% by Boko Haram and 4% by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), pointing to a misunderstanding amongst many in the west about the major offenders.

Kefas said that such misconceptions are likely due to the Fulani militias’ ranking below Boko Haram and IS on the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, before they were removed from rankings altogether following the rise of a Nigerian government considered “more sympathetic” to Fulani interests.

Kefas points to the change of administration in 2015 as a key moment which saw the situation change “almost overnight”, with militias growing “bolder” while the government’s response towards attacks grew “noticeably softer”.

He said: “Terror networks are taking root across the country, and the government’s action since 2015 – or, more often, its inaction – keeps feeding that growth. In just the last three or four years, we’ve seen three or four new jihadist groups emerge.

“Time and again, the government fails to prosecute members of these organisations, especially the Fulani Ethnic Militia, something analysts on the ground widely read as tacit approval. There may not be an official policy that says ‘we support these groups’, but when you refuse to arrest or prosecute them, that’s effectively what it amounts to.”