US Report, Accusing Army, Police of Collusion with Militia Sparks Outrage

• As Trump orders Pentagon to protect Nigerian Christians targeted by ISIS

BY BONNY AMADI

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, USCIRF, yesterday accused some police and army officers of colluding with Fulani militias in deadly attacks and mass ab- ductions targeting religious communities across Nigeria.

It also urged US Congress to bar individuals lobbying on behalf of foreign governments Washington had blacklisted for severe religious freedom violations from receiving payment for such services.

This is even as US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, revealed yesterday that President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prioritise Nigerian Christians targeted by ISIS, adding that the directive quietly led to the killing of ISIS’ second-in-command in Nigeria, reports Vanguard.

“There’s a lot of things we do that the media pays attention to, and a lot of things that the president empowers the department to do on behalf of the American people, that he deserves great credit for,’’ he said.

In a May 2026 report, titled “Non-state Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants”, the US commission further stated that the Nigerian government censorship had hindered accurate analysis of the identities and motivations of the armed groups violating religious freedom.

However, efforts to get reactions from Force headquarters and its Defence counterpart in Abuja yesterday proved abortive as spokesmen of both agencies neither picked telephone calls nor replied text messages sent to their mobile phones.

But the report stated: “The fates of all these kidnapping victims, like so many others, remain unknown to the public due to the sensitivity of ransom negotiations and, in some cases, possible collusion between perpetrators and some officials from the police and/or army.

“Further complicating matters is the fact that both conflicting media narratives and reported government censorship have hindered accurate analysis of the identities and motivations of the alarming number of armed nonstate actors that violate religious freedom in Nigeria.

“Some observers have argued environ mental and economic factors as the driving force behind Fulani militants’ acts of violence, while others have suggested that these actors are engaged in a concerted campaign of out- right genocide against non-Muslims, especially Christians.

“In fact, multiple and overlapping factors, including religion in many cases, likely spur Fulani militants to attack communities or individuals.’’

Escalating violence

The commission also warned that escalating violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt had driven at least 1.3 million people from their homes, as armed attacks continued to destabilise several states in the region.

It estimated that about 30,000-armed actors operate across the country in loosely organised groups, ranging from 10 to 1,000 members, with activity concentrated in the North-West, Middle Belt and parts of the south.

The report said the scale of displacement reflected what it described as a persistent and widening security crisis affecting millions of residents across central Nigeria.

It stated further: “These actors operate in a variety of contexts and with a multiplicity of likely aims and motivations. While many Fulani militant groups wage independent attacks, others periodically coordinate with a wide range of other actors, from conventional bandit gangs seeking financial enrichment to recognised terrorist organisations that espouse a violent interpretation of Islam.

These Fulani militant attacks, among those of other actors, have forced at least 1.3 million people in the Middle Belt off their lands and into overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions in displacement camps.”

The commission noted that the militants frequently attack isolated rural communities at night using motorcycles, automatic weapons and machetes.