ABSTRACT
Violence between pastoralists and farmers in Nigeria increased in 2018, causing more fatalities than in 2017, with clashes becoming more frequent. Farmer–pastoralist violence was most severe in central Nigeria and in parts of the northwest and northeast. The rioting spread across towns and cities in northern Nigeria, where both Christians and supporters of the then-ruling People’s Democratic Party were targeted. Nigerian security forces intervened in pastoralist–farmer conflicts in 2018 with varying effectiveness. The armed forces and police are overstretched due to their deployment in many conflict areas across Nigeria. The Fulani are the largest pastoralist group in Nigeria and own most of the country’s livestock. Armed bandits are most prevalent in northwest Nigeria, particularly in and around Zamfara State where they attack Hausa villages and coerce Fulani pastoralists by stealing their cattle, demanding money and cooperation in exchange for stolen herds.
