Pulaku: Nigeria's vigilantes fight kidnapping and cattle theft

In late September, three Toyota Hilux trucks carrying about 30 men in olive-green uniforms left Yola and drove into northeastern Nigeria’s open savanna. The men were taking part in drills by Pulaku, a Fulani-led volunteer group based in Malkohi, Yola South Local Government Area in Adamawa State.

The group’s members wore the same olive-green uniforms and carried locally made firearms, machetes and long wooden sticks. After reaching an area of scattered trees and sparse woodland, they rehearsed patrol tactics. Among them was Mahmud, a former cattle herder and farmer in his late 20s who gave only his first name. He said he had not yet confronted kidnappers but was confident about the dangers ahead.

Mahmud said the group was ready to fight day in, day out.

Across Adamawa and neighbouring Taraba State, analysts said armed groups had preyed on communities for years, abducting residents for ransom and stealing livestock. The scale is reflected in figures compiled by SBM Intelligence. Between July 2025 and June 2026, it recorded 21 kidnapping incidents in Adamawa involving 77 abducted people, and four in Taraba involving 14 people.

Cattle theft has also taken a heavy toll. A 2024 study published in the University of Jos Journal of Political Science estimated that 134,182 cattle were stolen in Taraba between 1999 and 2022. Over the same period, researchers reported that more than 113,000 stolen cattle were recovered in Adamawa.

For Fulani pastoralists, cattle theft can mean losing far more than animals. At an estimated 700,000 naira ($525) per animal, a herd of 50 cattle could be worth about 35 million naira ($26,254).

But Fulani communities face another struggle: the association of their ethnic identity with kidnapping, banditry and farmer-herder violence in parts of Nigeria’s media. A 2021 study published in African Journalism Studies examined 598 articles from three Nigerian newspapers and found reports sometimes used terms such as herdsmen and Fulani herdsmen interchangeably, while employing labels such as Fulani terrorists and killer Fulani herdsmen.

For Alhaji Bello Ardo, a Fulani community leader in Adamawa State, such portrayals contribute to suspicion faced by people with no involvement in crime. He said it is painful to see an entire ethnic group being stereotyped. Every ethnic group has individuals involved in crime, but in this case, people make accusations without confirmation.

Ardo points out that Fulani pastoralists are themselves victims of cattle theft and violence. He said they are also not safe, their cattle are being stolen, and they are being killed. People do not understand that not all Fulani are terrorists.

According to its leaders, Pulaku began more than a decade ago as Fulani community members organised to confront cattle theft and kidnapping. Its name invokes a cultural ideal, pulaaku, that includes dignity, patience, self-control, modesty, courage and respect. Professor Abubakar Abba Tahir said pulaaku is a living cultural concept, and that the difference between the cultural ideal and the vigilante group depends on conduct, accountability and respect for human rights.

Pulaku’s leadership says it now has more than 500 members across Adamawa and Taraba. Its grand commander, Musa Usman Malkohi, said members contribute their own resources, with support from communities and local authorities. The group is not on the government payroll, though the Adamawa State government has provided vehicles.

Membership is voluntary, and leadership decides which members may carry firearms. For the police, one of Pulaku’s greatest assets is members’ knowledge of the terrain. The story of how the volunteer organisation grew into a force of hundreds begins with a man whose own family was touched by the violence the organisation was formed to confront.

Source: Al Jazeera.