At least 150 members of the Fulani community, most of them children, have died at a military detention camp in Kwara State in north-central Nigeria, Amnesty International reported following a visit to the site between 5 and 11 April 2026. Some 1,500 Fulani pastoralists were transported to the National Youth Service Corps Orientation Camp in Yikpata after being ordered by military authorities to leave their villages in January 2026 to allow clearance operations against armed groups in the Asa, Edu, Ifelodun and Patigi local government areas.

Amnesty researchers interviewed 30 detainees, family members and survivors and engaged a further 60 people in affected areas. Images obtained from the camp showed children with prominent ribs and shoulder blades too weak to walk. Detainees described receiving food once a day, sometimes only beans in the evening. At least 100 pregnant women are at risk from inadequate maternal care. One woman said her twin daughters died at the camp and that residents pooled 60,000 naira (approximately US$44) to buy burial shrouds as deaths mounted, burying three bodies in a single grave. A man who escaped said 154 people had died from hunger and disease, with six children dying on the day of his escape alone.

The detentions followed violent attacks by armed groups and bandits, after which the Nigerian military launched a security operation in January 2026, rounding up entire villages based on ethnic identity. Amnesty said the camp placed detainees outside the protection of the law in violation of the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations.

 Source: Amnesty International, 29 April 2026