According to a report by BBC News on 28 April 2016, President Buhari has ordered security forces to crack down on
Fulani herdsmen who have been wreaking havoc on communities in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. The president also ordered police and army chiefs to "secure all communities under attack by herdsmen". The Nigerian Daily Post reported on 27 April 2016 that a group called the
Ijaw Youths Council was claiming that militants belonging to Boko Haram had been launching the attacks and raids in the Middle Belt region disguising themselves as Fulani herdsmen.
In a related report by News24 on 22 April 2016, seven people were killed in a
suicide bomb attack in Banki, a small town on the Cameroon border. Two women blew themselves up at a checkpoint near a refugee camp set up for those displaced by the Boko Haram conflict in northeast Nigeria.
Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research (WWR), comments: "The president"s statement regarding the attacks by Fulani herdsmen is to be welcomed. It seems that the Nigerian government is giving more attention to the problem - and that by itself is a significant positive development. However, the extent to which Nigerian security forces will be effective in providing protection for the communities in the Middle Belt region is questionable. The continued ability of Boko Haram to stage attacks in northern Nigeria shows that the Nigerian security forces still have a lot of work to do in the fight against Boko Haram. The ongoing insecurity in the Middle Belt and northern Nigeria means that Nigerian Christians in these parts of the country continue to face serious and violent persecution. President Buhari"s administration seems to be recognizing the severity of the problem in the Middle Belt at last. Hopefully, the allegations of collaboration between Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen will be investigated and taken seriously too. A report from WWR published by World Watch Monitor in March 2015 highlighted the
killing and displacement of thousands of Christians by Fulani herdsmen. "
