While some Fulani herders—who are nominally Muslim—have committed atrocities, there are also Christian militant groups and ethnic militias, including Berom, Jukun, Adara, Kataf, and others, who have killed Muslims in various conflicts. Violence in the North is complex, multi-layered, and not exclusive to any single faith
By Mustapha Gembu
For decades, Northern Nigeria has been a region defined by coexistence. Indigenous Christian communities have lived alongside Muslim majorities, sharing common markets, neighborhoods, cultural exchanges, and—most importantly—shared struggles. Insecurity, poverty, underdevelopment, and weak governance have affected Northerners collectively, regardless of religious identity. Yet in recent years, this fragile balance has come under strain due to the growing politicization of religion and the uncritical adoption of external narratives that do not reflect the complex realities of the North.
Today, a disturbing trend is unfolding: many Northern Christians are increasingly aligning themselves with political and ideological agendas driven by Igbo Christian elites and separatist movements from Nigeria’s South-East. This alignment, often fueled by emotion, religious sentiment, and perceived marginalization, risks dragging Northern Christians into a political project that neither prioritizes their survival nor safeguards their long-term interests.
The Igbo Separatist Agenda and Its Hidden Motives
At the heart of this issue is the agitation for a breakaway state known as Biafra, championed by groups such as IPOB and its armed wing, ESN. While these movements present themselves as victims of injustice and defenders of Christian interests, their ultimate objective is the fragmentation of Nigeria along ethnic lines to advance Igbo political dominance in a reconfigured state.
The destabilization of Nigeria is therefore not an unintended consequence but a strategic objective. Unfortunately, many Northern Christians have failed to recognize that they are being mobilized as tools—useful allies in international advocacy campaigns but expendable in the final political calculation.
The 2023 Presidential Election: Religion Over Reason
The 2023 general election marked a turning point in this troubling alliance. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s selection of Kashim Shettima as his running mate triggered intense backlash, particularly among Christian groups. Rather than being evaluated within Nigeria’s long tradition of strategic ticket balancing, the Muslim–Muslim ticket was framed as an existential threat to Christianity.
The continued framing of economic and security conflicts as religious wars, and the promotion of exaggerated genocide claims, serve neither peace nor the long-term interests of the North
Churches across Northern Nigeria became political mobilization centers. Sermons were transformed into campaign messages, and voting choices were framed as acts of religious defense. Consequently, Northern Christians voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
This mass support was not based on Peter Obi’s policies toward Northern development, security reform, or economic revival. Instead, it was rooted largely in religious identity and a shared Christian affiliation. In the process, Northern Christians rejected not only the APC ticket but also credible Northern candidates such as Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso—men with deep understanding of Northern realities—simply because they are Muslims.
For Igbo Christian elites, this support served a broader ethnic project. But for Northern Christians, it represented a dangerous abandonment of regional solidarity and political pragmatism.
The Weaponization of the “Christian Genocide” Narrative
Perhaps the most damaging development has been the aggressive promotion of the claim that Christians are being systematically exterminated in Nigeria. This narrative, heavily amplified by IPOB-linked networks and international lobbyists, has gained traction in Western political and media spaces.
Northern Christians, who experience insecurity firsthand, know that violence in the region is not selectively religious. Banditry, Boko Haram, ISWAP, and other armed groups have killed thousands of Muslims and Christians alike. Entire Muslim villages have been wiped out, mosques destroyed, and Muslim clerics assassinated. Yet these realities are often ignored in favor of a simplified and emotionally charged genocide claim.
Despite knowing this truth, some Northern Christians have joined the campaign to portray Nigeria as a country engaged in religious extermination of Christians. This has been driven more by resentment, fear, and external validation than by factual accuracy.
Distorting Farmer–Herder Conflicts
Nowhere is this distortion clearer than in the farmer–herder conflicts across Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, and parts of the North-Central region. These conflicts are primarily rooted in land use, climate pressure, population growth, and the collapse of traditional conflict-resolution mechanisms.
Both Fulani pastoralists and farming communities—Muslims and Christians—have suffered enormous losses. However, these conflicts are repeatedly reframed as a one-sided religious war against Christians, erasing Muslim victims and deepening mistrust.
This selective framing has hardened identities, escalated reprisals, and made peaceful resolution more difficult. It has also allowed criminal elements and ethnic militias on all sides to justify violence under the cover of religious self-defense.
The Role of Religious Leadership
One of the most painful aspects of this crisis is the role played by some Northern pastors and church leaders. Instead of acting as voices of moderation and truth, they have actively promoted exaggerated genocide narratives on international platforms.
By doing so, they have endangered the very coexistence that allows Christian communities to thrive in the North. Worse still, many of these leaders openly tied their advocacy to partisan politics, endorsing Peter Obi primarily as a symbolic rejection of Muslim political leadership.
This approach ignores a fundamental reality: to many Southern elites, especially within the Igbo political imagination, all Northerners are seen as Hausa-Fulani Muslims. Northern Christians are not viewed as a distinct political constituency deserving protection or autonomy.
International Fallout and External Interference
The consequences of exporting these narratives have been severe. U.S. congressional hearings, fact-finding missions, and media reports—often based on incomplete or biased information—have shaped foreign policy positions toward Nigeria.
The designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) was one such outcome. Subsequent foreign military actions and diplomatic pressure, particularly targeting Muslim-majority regions like Sokoto, further deepened internal divisions.
More alarming still are proposals by some U.S. lawmakers suggesting the partition of Nigeria into Northern and Southern entities. These proposals are rooted in the same flawed genocide narrative now being championed by some Northern Christians.
The Inevitable Cost to Northern Christians
In any hypothetical division of Nigeria—however unrealistic—Northern Christians would be the greatest losers. They would become politically isolated minorities in a region defined by geography, not sentiment. No Northern state would realistically align with a Southern bloc, leaving Northern Christians without leverage, protection, or strategic relevance.
What is being presented as religious solidarity is, in reality, a path toward political marginalization and existential vulnerability.
The Reality of Violence in Northern Nigeria
Violence in Northern Nigeria is not the monopoly of any religion. If Fulani extremists have killed Christians, then Christian militias—Berom, Jukun, Adara, Kataf, and others—have also killed Muslims. Entire Muslim communities have been attacked, displaced, and erased from ancestral lands.
To describe one side as terrorists and the other as victims is intellectually dishonest and morally dangerous. The North is bleeding collectively.
Conclusion
The insecurity ravaging Northern Nigeria is not a Christian-only tragedy; it is also a Muslim tragedy. If there is any talk of genocide, then both Christians and Muslims are victims.
While some Fulani herders—who are nominally Muslim—have committed atrocities, there are also Christian militant groups and ethnic militias, including Berom, Jukun, Adara, Kataf, and others, who have killed Muslims in various conflicts. Violence in the North is complex, multi-layered, and not exclusive to any single faith.
Northern Christians must therefore rethink their blind alignment with Southern Christian political agendas and separatist narratives. The continued framing of economic and security conflicts as religious wars, and the promotion of exaggerated genocide claims, serve neither peace nor the long-term interests of the North.
The sooner Northern Christians move beyond religious sentiment, reject divisive propaganda, and stand in solidarity with their fellow Northerners—regardless of faith—the better it will be for them and for the stability of the region as a whole.
What the North needs is not religious war, but collective resolve.
•Opinions, positions or thoughts expressed here are personal and strictly of the writer/author and do not represent the views of The Daily Crucible.
