Fact-checking Trump
While his rhetoric is a jumble of bluster and hyperbole, Trump is right to spotlight the scale and severity of killings.
In central states, Fulani militia have attacked more than 700 villages since 2009. They target predominantly Christian communities in rural areas, driving villagers off their land and threatening anyone who seeks to return. At least 20,000 people have been killed, with countless others suffering life-changing injuries. Millions are displaced.
Veteran humanitarian journalist and Senior Programmes Manager for HART, Hassan John, says: “I have visited over 150 villages in central Nigeria, during and after attacks, and have witnessed the most unspeakable atrocities. Nearly all the victims are Christians. Many survivors have been forcibly displaced. It is too dangerous for them to return.”
The picture is different in Muslim-majority northern states, where the overwhelming demographic reality means that Muslims, not Christians, constitute the highest number of casualties caused by Boko Haram and its factions.
Eyewitness report
During HART’s most recent factfinding visit to central Nigeria, we travelled to two villages in Plateau State that were attacked by Fulani militia on 14 October 2025. Thirteen people were killed, including five children.
Eve, a 20-year-old mother of four, survived the attack. She recalls waking up at night to the sound of gunfire. She hid two of her children in a water barrel outside the home. She sheltered behind a door with the two youngest.
One of the children inside the barrel made a noise that alerted the attackers. Eve could hear the gunmen question the siblings about their parents’ whereabouts, and her children telling them their parents had already fled. The gunmen opened fire into the barrel, killing both children.
Such massacres are a weekly occurrence in central Nigeria. Yet there is no meaningful security or assistance for conflict-affected communities. If and when overseas aid reaches Nigeria, most of it is diverted to the north of the country.
What did the BBC say?