Nigeria: Farmer-Herder Violence in Nigeria Goes Beyond Religion, U.S. Congress Hearing Told

Monrovia — A U.S. Congressional subcommittee on Africa was told that Nigeria is becoming “one of the most dangerous places in the world” for religious minorities due to violence in northern parts of the country but analysts warned against viewing the country’s security challenges only through a religious prism.

Testifying during a special hearing on the West African nation, the Bishop of Markudi Diocese, Wilfred Anagbe, said the influence of Islamist groups and Fulani herdsmen – predominantly Muslim – “changed the traditional and social dynamics” of Nigeria.

Anagbe said that despite being a secular nation, as prescribed by the Nigerian Constitution, a “long-term Islamic agenda” is being implemented in the country to “homogenize” the population, accusing the Fulani herdsmen of killing, vandalizing, and kidnapping “with impunity”.

Northern Nigeria has been beset by violence for many years, which analysts say is due to a variety of reasons, including political, ethical, and social. The campaign by violent extremism group Boko Haram which aims to establish an Islamic state – along with bandits and criminal gangs – caused the deaths of tens of thousands and displaced millions more. There are also ongoing conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and Christian farmers over resources, which have taken on a religious dimension.

Twelve of the country’s 36 states reintroduced Sharia law – a system of Islamic religious laws derived from the Q’uran.

At the hearing on March 12, Bishop Anagbe criticized the closure of schools in the 12 states as Ramadan began – which he says affects both Christians and non-Christian students alike: “What would happen to the educational program?” The action amounts to an attempt to impose Sharia law on the Christian population, he said.

The prelate joined other participants at the hearing to call for the re-designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) – which would place Nigeria in severe violation of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The country was first designated by the U.S. State Department as a CPC nation under the previous administration of President Donald Trump. That designation was reversed by former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2021.

Director of the Wilson Center’s Africa program Oge Onubogu – another witness at the hearing – said as a leader of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), “how Nigeria settles its own security challenges, will set the pace not only at home, but the broader region”. Onubogu said the country’s insecurity problem is rooted in “one shortcoming”: the lack of a national identity, noting that ethnicity, religion, and language, not nationality, are the “benchmarks” of identity for the country’s highly diverse population.

Onubogu told the U.S. hearing that Nigeria’s ethnically and religiously diverse population is not the cause of the continued conflicts. The problem, she said, is that “ethnicity and religion in the country have become instrumental markers that are used to mobilize and successfully acquire power resources and political dominance”. She said Nigerian politicians stoke ethnic and religious divisions during political campaigns.

Onubogu, who grew up in Jos, Nigeria, and returns there regularly, said whether the ongoing violence is labeled as banditry or terrorism, the “failure of governance” to meet the population’s most basic needs is at the heart of the problem. She said meeting the needs of communities goes beyond livelihoods, education, and healthcare “but also their need for the perpetrators [of violence] to be held legitimately accountable”.

Religion can not be dismissed entirely as a cause of conflict, Onubogu said, but noted that it is “unproductive” to label the conflict as solely driven by religion “when there are so many other factors at play”.

Onubogu urged the U.S. government to develop a “holistic and long-term vision” for its engagement with Nigeria on issues of governance and security, while also highlighting the need for the U.S. to decentralise its approach towards the country by also working with states.

With Nigeria marking its “longest period of uninterrupted civilian rule” – more than 25 years since the restoration of democracy in 1999 – Onubogu said “good leadership” is crucial to addressing the insecurity, as well as the “rising threat” to regional integration and economic stability in the wider region.

Several Nigerian State governments increased security measures to tackle the violence, a U.S. State Department report noted, as well as continued calls for unity.

“There were hopes that Bola Tinubu’s 2023 election as president would cause a positive shift towards recognizing and intervening against human rights violations affecting Christians, but this has not yet materialized,” Open Doors said in its 2025 report. The organization supports prosecuted Christians worldwide. It placed Nigeria 7th on its “watchlist” of countries where Christians are prosecuted.

Other nations in the region performing poorly on religious freedom, according to Open Doors, are Somalia, Eritrea, Libya, and Sudan.

The former Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Tony Perkins, told the hearing that it was time to “make it clear that Nigeria’s treatment of religious minorities will directly impact relations with the U.S.”, including security assistance. Perkins said the U.S needs to act to uphold its “moral credibility”.

The chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Representative Chris Smith, said in a statement that he has reintroduced legislation for Nigeria to be designated again as a CPC nation. If re-designated, this could lead the U.S. to take diplomatic or economic actions against Nigeria, including sanctions.

By Boakai Fofana