Fulani militias have emerged as Nigeria’s deadliest non-state armed group, eclipsing Boko Haram and ISWAP in civilian deaths, yet remain largely overlooked by global terrorism monitors, a security expert has warned.

This is according to security expert Steven Kefas who cited preliminary data from the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) showing that between October 2019 and September 2024, Fulani Ethnic Militias (FEM) were responsible for 47 per cent of all civilian killings in Nigeria — more than five times the combined death toll of Nigeria’s jihadist groups .

ORFA’s figures are stark: 36,056 civilians killed, 13,437 incidents of extreme violence, and over 29,180 abducted with kidnappings rising from 1,665 in 2020 to 7,648 in 2024 . Up to 3.4 million people have also been internally displaced, mostly from Nigeria’s Middle Belt.

Yet despite the rising toll, Fulani militias have vanished from international terror rankings like those published by the Global Terrorism Index (GTI). According to Kefas, their violence is mis-categorised as communal or ethnic conflict, making it invisible to international security frameworks and humanitarian aid.

Their methodical, low-profile campaigns where 79 per cent of attacks are land-based raids on farming settlements focus on abduction, killings, sexual violence, and arson. Recent atrocities include the June 13–14 Yelwata massacre in Benue State, where more than 150 mostly women and children were reportedly slaughtered, and the Agatu killings in early 2016, which claimed up to 500 lives .

“In Agatu in 2016 and again in Yelwata in 2025, these militias targeted farming communities in their sleep,” Kefas said. “This isn’t random violence; it’s systematic ethnic cleansing aimed at reshaping demographic landscapes.”

He criticises the GTI’s narrow focus on spectacular jihadist violence, which overlooks slow-motion genocide by groups like FEM. This mislabelling has real-world consequences, Kefas warned, diverting international aid and counter-terrorism assistance away from some of the most afflicted regions .

Beyond civilian deaths, the destruction undercuts national food security. As Christian farming communities are emptied, local agricultural production suffers, deepening economic distress across the region.

Kefas urged security analysts and global institutions to expand their definitions of terrorism to include systematic cartel-style militia violence. “These are fathers, mothers, children whose lives were cut short while the world’s gaze remained elsewhere,” he said. “Without recognition as terrorism, there’s little hope for resources, accountability or justice.”

International attention, Kefas concluded, must shift, terrorism is not only the flash of a bomb, but the silent erasure of entire communities.