The Fulani who kidnap people are not the Nigerian Fulani…” – shouts the kidnapped Fulani man
AND Fulani man who was abducted by kidnappers shared his experience in captivity, insisting that many of the criminals responsible for kidnappings across the country are not Nigerian Fulani but foreigners from neighboring countries.
Speaking about his ordeal, the victim disclosed that he and several others were abducted by armed Fulani men from Chadnot Nigeria.
Claims that the kidnappers were foreigners
According to the victim, the group that abducted him consisted of about six men, none of whom were Nigerian Fulani.
“I am Fulani. We don’t kidnap people because we have jobs to survive. We don’t pray to God to make us kidnap our fellow beings to earn a living. All these kidnappers are not Nigerian Fulani. They are Fulani from Chad. When they came and kidnapped us, we saw about six of them; there was no Nigerian Fulani,” he stated.
He further claimed that someone outside the gang was feeding them information and appeared to be controlling their operations remotely.
“But someone was giving them information. The person was speaking Hausa on the phone and it seemed to be their boss because, as we were moving, he was the one giving them instructions and communicating with them. Along the way, they also kidnapped some Chinese. After the Chinese paid, we also paid before they let us go. I think they went to Abeokuta later,” he stated.
‘Our name is damaged’
Expressing frustration over the growing association of the Fulani people with banditry and kidnapping, the man said:
“So all these things that are happening, people who keep mentioning the Fulani, are just spoiling our name. I swear to God, most Nigerian Fulanis don’t like trouble,” he said.
He admitted that disputes sometimes arise between herdsmen and farmers when cattle stray onto farmlands, but argued that the abduction was not representative of the Nigerian Fulani culture.
“If they say our cattle entered someone’s farm and ate their crops, I will not deny it. But the Nigerian Fulani who carry guns and kidnap people are not us.”
“Even in Nigeria, we have about five different kinds of Fulani. Those who abducted us spoke Fulani, but if we didn’t understand the language well, we wouldn’t understand what they were saying because their dialect is a little different from ours,” he said. explained.
Life in Captivity
The abducted man also told about some unusual experiences from captivity.
“While we were with them, they were calling their families back home. They were calling through WhatsApp calls, not the usual phone calls. Some of them were inquiring about their properties back home,” he said.
“They even tell their families that the animals they took to the market haven’t been sold yet and that they will come back when they sell them. We are the ones they called animals.”
“When our families came to pay the ransom, they took ₦2,000 from my money and gave it to me. They also took ₦2,000 from other people’s money and gave it to them too.
“They said that, in case we did something with money, we would both spend the money.”
“We bought milk, malt, cigarettes and other things before they finally let us go. They even asked me to go and buy food for them. After I brought the food, they asked me to eat it first. They waited for about five minutes, and when nothing happened to me, they started eating the food.”
‘We are tired of stereotypes’
The man went on to complain about the stigma many Fulanis face due to the activities of criminal gangs.
“Honestly, if it was possible for us to change our tribe from Fulani, we would do it because we are tired. Wherever we go, when people see that we are Fulani, they call us bandits.”
Look below;
“Fulani who kidnap people are not Nigerian Fulani. They are mainly Fulani from Chad, we Nigerian Fulani can eat someone else on the farm with our cow but we don’t kidnap.”
— A kidnapped man from the Fulani tribe, recounts his experience after the kidnapping. pic.twitter.com/M06BTV2sYl
— Oyo Matters (@Oyo_Matters) June 3, 2026
