The World Factbook 2021. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is bordered by the Gulf of Guinea, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. It is the richest country in Africa due to its petroleum resources, most of which are owned by major multinational corporations such as Shell. These corporations have degraded the environment along Nigeria’s coastline with oil spills, gas flaring, and intrusive extraction. Local communities have not been compensated. In fact, Nigerian civilians rarely see the profits of oil extraction. Government corruption and mismanagement has squandered much of Nigeria’s oil revenue.  

The country has faced longstanding ethnic, political, and religious divides. Today, Nigeria’s rapidly-growing population is experiencing severe effects of climate change: fertile lands are shrinking; droughts and floods are more frequent and longer; and clean water sources are increasingly scarce. In 2021, Nigeria has almost 3 million internally displaced persons as a result of conflict and climate crises. Nigeria faces two major conflicts.  

Boko Haram 

Boko Haram, which translates to “Western education is forbidden,” is a jihadist terrorist group that operates in northeastern Nigeria. They launched large-scale military operations against Nigeria’s National Security Forces (NSF) in 2009.  

Boko Haram-related violence peaked in 2014 and 2015. Since then, the NSF has pushed Boko Haram out of several territories. Military conflict is now largely confined to the Borno Province on Nigeria’s northeastern border. The group also operates across the border in Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. Terrorists frequently abduct and execute civilians who refuse to conform to their radical brand of Islam.  

Fulani Herders 

Muslim Fulani herders and Christian farmers coexisted peacefully for centuries in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. In the early 2000s, the region’s population was growing, and arable land was shrinking due to desertification from persistent droughts. Herders began coming into conflict with farming communities over grazing pastures and water sources. Islamist extremism in the region also heightened anti-Christian sentiments among Fulani Muslims, overlaying resource competition with identity issues.  

This tension escalated into widespread violence in 2015. Fulani militias carried out deadly attacks on Christian farmers in central Nigeria. They arrived in trucks with AK-47s and massacred entire villages. These genocidal massacres led to some retaliation by Christian villagers, but the violence remains highly asymmetrical. 

Boko Haram 

Boko Haram’s crimes of murder, abduction, rape, sexual slavery, torture, and more have been extensively documented in the media and by governments. They target political groups, local police, the military, other religious groups, and Western education. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, more than 37,500 people have been killed in attacks or military conflict with Boko Haram since 2011. Elderly people are particularly vulnerable, as many are unable to flee Boko Haram-occupied territories.  

(CEE-HOPE NIGERIA, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)

Boko Haram has destroyed at least 1,400 schools and has abducted thousands of schoolchildren, who are often recruited as child soldiers, subject to forced marriage, or sold into sexual slavery. In 2014, the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from the Chibok Government Girls Secondary School sparked international outrage. These kidnappings fueled parents’ concern about sending their children to school, which advanced Boko Haram’s campaign against Western education. According to UNICEF, over 10.5 million Nigerian children aged 5-14 are currently not enrolled in school.  

Members of the NSF, the government forces, have also committed atrocities. Soldiers have repeatedly failed to distinguish between terrorists and civilians when they overtake villages perceived as supporting Boko Haram. They have killed, raped, and arrested unarmed villagers. Boko Haram militants who are accused and arrested face extrajudicial killings, torture, and ill treatment causing thousands of deaths. 

Fulani Herders 

In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, Christian civilians are targeted indiscriminately. Hundreds of churches have been destroyed, and religious leaders are intensely persecuted. According to Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, the conflict resulted in over 6,000 deaths between 2015 and 2019, and a thousand more in 2019. The violence has exacerbated poverty, internal displacement, and food shortages. Disinformation on social media is often used to fuel identity-based killing. 

Criminals and bandits in the region have capitalized off the conflict by kidnapping, raiding villages, and rustling cattle. This rise in criminality has amplified the climate of fear and violence. 

Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, conducted a preliminary examination of Boko Haram’s actions in Nigeria. On December 11, 2020, she declared that there was a reasonable basis to prosecute Boko Haram and splinter groups for crimes against humanity and war crimes. She noted that members of the Nigerian Security Forces have also committed atrocities. The next step towards prosecuting perpetrators is a formal investigation, which has yet to be launched. Currently, thousands of alleged Boko Haram fighters are awaiting trial in Nigerian prison. Others have been sentenced with little evidence during internationally-criticized mass trials.  

The attacks by Fulani herders have featured less prominently in international news. The Nigerian House of Representatives declared the atrocities a genocide in 2018, yet Christian civilians have received no additional protection from their government and no justice. 

Updated 2021 

References

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“Boko Haram in Nigeria.” https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/boko-haram-nigeria 

“Boko Haram’s Deadly Impact.” https://www.cfr.org/article/boko-harams-deadly-impact 

“Genocide Emergency: Nigeria – September 2020.” https://d0dbb2cb-698c-4513-aa47-eba3a335e06f.filesusr.com/ugd/6311b8_a6ca0e61c5b440668a1085ce53e8aad9.pdf  

“How oil and water create a complex conflict in the Niger Delta.” https://theconversation.com/how-oil-and-water-create-a-complex-conflict-in-the-niger-delta-135105  

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“Nigeria: Willingly Unable: ICC Preliminary Examination and Nigeria’s Failure to Address Impunity for International Crimes.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr44/9481/2018/en/  

“Past is prologue: Criminality And Reprisal Attacks In Nigeria’s Middle Belt.” https://www.sfcg.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Criminality-Reprisal-Attack_FINAL.pdf  

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“Sixth Time Unlucky: Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s vicious leader, is said to be dead.” https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/27/abubakar-shekau-boko-harams-vicious-leader-is-said-to-be-dead 

“Statement of the Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria.” https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/item.aspx?name=201211-prosecutor-statement 

“‘Tens of civilians’ killed in gruesome Nigeria massacre, UN says.” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/29/at-least-110-civilians-killed-in-gruesome-nigeria-massacre  

“The Sahel is engulfed by violence. Climate change, food insecurity and extremists are largely to blame.” https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/all-the-warning-signs-are-showing-in-the-sahel-we-must-act-now/ 

“UK parliamentarian groups raise concern over genocide in Nigeria.” https://guardian.ng/news/uk-parliamentarian-groups-raise-concern-over-genocide-in-nigeria/  

“Violence, death and injustice: A beginner’s guide to human rights in Nigeria.” https://www.amnesty.ca/blog/violence-death-and-injustice-a-beginner%E2%80%99s-guide-to-human-rights-in-nigeria