Faith and Fate: How Fulani Militias Sort Hostages by Religion

In Northern Nigeria, Fulani ethnic militias employ a two-tier captivity system based on faith. Captors openly spare Fulani Muslims while subjecting Christian and non-Fulani Muslim detainees to vastly different fates. Field research across Kaduna, Plateau, Kogi and the wider Middle Belt reveals that Muslim captives often receive adequate food, relative freedom, and lower ransom demands. Christian hostages face systematic beatings, sexual violence, prolonged threats, and far higher demands – sometimes even execution after families comply. This pattern points to a deliberate religious hierarchy guiding abduction operations. Faith determines who is taken, how they are treated, the cost of their release, and whether they survive. Until this dimension of the crisis is addressed directly, affected communities will continue to bear its weight alone.

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