Amnesty International has expressed concern over the reported forced relocation of more than 1,500 Fulani pastoralists from Kwara State following the closure of the Yikpata NYSC Orientation Camp, where they had been held.
In a statement released this week, the rights group said authorities gave the displaced community an ultimatum to leave Kwara State, offering relocation to other states while excluding Kwara and Kogi. According to Amnesty, relocations began last week, with people moved to Kaduna, Kano, Abuja, Taraba, Niger, and Zamfara.
The group said that as of Sunday, May 10, 2026, the first batch of at least five buses had transported some of the pastoralists to Gusau in Zamfara State, where it said they were facing hostility from locals and further displacement.
Amnesty International said interviews with members of the community indicated that many are indigenes of Kwara State who were born and raised there. It said they were being denied their constitutional right to live in their home state and forced into a new cycle of displacement.
“Last week, they (the Nigerian military) documented us and asked us to choose which state anywhere in Nigeria that we want to be taken to,” one displaced pastoralist told the organization. “Many chose Niger and Zamfara, mostly out of fear since they were told they couldn’t choose Kwara and Kogi. We are all Kwara indigenes and relocating us somewhere is against our will, there is nothing we can do.”
The group said the community has been “stretched beyond every limit” after months of life under restrictions at the Yikpata camp, and now faces further hardship with limited means to earn a living and inadequate humanitarian aid.
Amnesty International said forcibly displacing the Fulani community within Nigeria violates international humanitarian law.
The Kwara State government has not publicly responded to the allegations as of the time of publication.
