The Fulani extremists who attack Christian villages often arrive in groups of more than 100 men, armed with AK-47s, riding motorcycles in pre-dawn raids on farming communities. Gun ownership in Nigeria is restricted under the Firearms Act, which requires presidential or Inspector-General licensing for any firearm and limits civilians to shotguns; a 2019 executive order revoked remaining private licenses.
Many Christian villages are entirely unarmed. Others are defended by hunters carrying homemade, single-shot muzzle-loaders, enough, villagers say, to buy time for families to flee, not to stop an assault. When communities have fought back, police have at times confiscated even those weapons. Through legislative pressure, Nigerian Christians are now pushing for the right to form state-level police forces to defend their homes and families. The constitutional amendment required to do so has not yet cleared the National Assembly.
Open Doors ranks Nigeria the deadliest country on earth for Christians, accounting for 3,490 of the 4,849 Christians killed for their faith worldwide in 2025. The U.S. House Nigeria’s Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 estimates between 50,000 and 125,000 Christians martyred since 2009, with more than 19,000 churches attacked or destroyed, 72 percent of all Christian martyrs worldwide.
The killing continues: in January 2026, nearly 175 worshippers were abducted from churches in Kaduna State and dozens more killed across Plateau, Benue, and Taraba states, and on May 15, over 80 pupils, students, and teachers were kidnapped in simultaneous attacks in Oyo and Borno states.
Many of the worst attacks on Christian communities occur in remote villages in the Middle Belt and northern regions, areas with limited infrastructure and security forces. Violence happens quickly and without warning, and the government claims that by the time military or police units arrive, the attackers have already fled.
However, many locals report that police or army units were nearby and were even alerted during attacks, yet refused to respond until after the hostilities had ended. By then, Christians lay dead, survivors had been kidnapped, and the attackers had disappeared into remote jungle hideouts.
The federal government controls the only legally recognized police force in the country. Section 214(1) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution states that there shall be a Nigeria Police Force, and that “no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof.” That single sentence has left rural Christian communities legally defenseless.
Nigerian church leaders have concluded that humanitarian appeals are no longer sufficient. Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of the Abuja Archdiocese framed self-defense as a matter of “natural justice” necessary to protect oneself from “bloodthirsty criminals,” stating that Christians “must rise up” and protect themselves and their communities. A pastor at a separate attack site put it plainly: “We preach, peace, but that must not mean surrender to slaughter. The right to life is sacred, and protecting that life is not a crime.”
Nigeria’s umbrella body for Christian denominations has now moved beyond moral statements to legislative demands. The Christian Association of Nigeria convened the National Church Denominational Leaders Summit 2026 in Abuja on June 2, attended by leaders from the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, the Christian Council of Nigeria, the Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, TEKAN/ECWA and other member bodies, alongside legal practitioners and security experts from all six geopolitical zones.
CAN President Archbishop Daniel Okoh read the communiqué, condemning what he called “barbaric acts of murder, beheading, torture, rape, abduction and forced displacement,” and demanding immediate passage of the State Police Constitution Alteration Bill, legislation that would amend Section 214(1) of the 1999 Constitution, moving policing to the Concurrent List so states can field their own forces alongside the federal NPF. CAN also declared June 14 “Black Sunday,” calling on churches nationwide to mourn victims of violence.
The legislation is now advancing through the process. On June 4, President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila briefed correspondents after a consultative meeting at the State House, saying significant progress has been made and a constitutional amendment is expected in the near future, following months of consultations among the Executive, the National Assembly, and security authorities. The meeting included Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi, and Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu. Gbajabiamila said the debate has long moved past the question of whether state police should exist and is now focused entirely on the legal and institutional architecture for its operation.
The National Assembly has also been pushed by events. Following the May abductions in Oyo and Borno, the House of Representatives renewed calls for implementation of previously adopted recommendations on decentralizing Nigeria’s security architecture, including the establishment of state police, local government policing units, decentralized courts, and an integrated intelligence and surveillance network.
The bill is not yet passed. Senate spokesperson Yemi Adaramodu confirmed the Senate will immediately resume constitution review work, saying: “State police is a popular demand. The President has signed into it, the state governors too have signed into it, and the National Assembly is in love with it.” The Senate has officially committed to concluding the constitutional amendment process before the end of 2026.
The obstacles are real. The National Assembly had set December 2025 as its deadline and missed it, with political mobilization ahead of elections slowing the process. Critics, including Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and the pan-Yoruba group Afenifere, have warned that any bill must include strong safeguards to prevent governors from abusing control over state police forces.
For Middle Belt Christians, those procedural concerns are secondary to survival. Nigerians have seen hundreds of suspects arrested over the years and then released, never charged or brought to trial, creating a culture of impunity that continues to erode public trust in the rule of law.
In December 2025, President Tinubu declared that all armed groups operating outside state authority, including bandits, militias, armed gangs, and kidnappers, would be treated as terrorists. However, he did not specifically name the Fulani, and no formal legal terrorist designation by gazette or executive order has been confirmed.
Communities that have endured years of attacks while waiting for the federal government to respond are now demanding the legal right to protect themselves, not through vigilantism, but through constitutional reform that would let their own states field their own police.
The amendment has not yet cleared the National Assembly. But for the first time since 1999, the constitutional barrier to state-level policing appears closer to falling than at any point in Nigeria’s history.
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