They're worse than the members of the Boko Haram terrorist group, as far as Nigerian authorities are concerned.
These are the radical Fulani Islamic herdsmen who have killed more people in Nigeria than any other terrorist and insurgent groups in the African country, according to a Lagos-based intelligence consulting firm in 2014.
Considering the atrocious record of this Islamist group, it came as a big surprise when more than 400 Fulanis in Nigeria recently converted to Christianity and vowed to promote peace in their country.
Among the Fulanis who embraced Jesus, seven were even ordained, the Daily Post reported.
The Rev. Copper Sebok, who leads COCIN Church Panyam in Plateau State, made the announcement on April 30 during a meeting attended by the Fulani converts.
Addressing the new followers of Christ, Sebok called on them to preach the gospel of peace to their fellow Fulanis to stem the spate of violence in the country.
Sebok said the Fulanis' conversion debunked the notion that the members of the ethnic group "can't be reached with the gospel of Christ.''
In his sermon, the cleric called for compassion to "the unsaved to draw them to Christ for eternal salvation."
Speaking for the converts, the Rev. Hassan Mohammed expressed gratitude to God for giving them a new lease of life as Christians.
He said armed with their new faith, they would go out and proclaim the gospel not only to their fellow Fulanis but to all other people.
According to Quartz, the nomadic Fulani herdsmen have become an even greater threat to Nigeria's security than the Boko Haram terrorist group. The news outlet attributed the upsurge of violence to the effects of climate change, including rapid desertification of grazing land and lower rainfall, which make cattle rearing more difficult in the herdsmen's northern Nigeria base.
As the herdsmen seek fertile grazing land for their cattle in the south, they inevitably come into violent conflicts with farmers and other herdsmen in that region.
In the last few months of 2016, radical Fulani herdsmen reportedly killed over 800 Christians and moderate Muslims, and destroyed at least 16 churches, as CP earlier reported.
In January this year, the Fulani terrorists reportedly raided a predominantly Christian village in Nigeria, killing 10 people, destroying homes, and leaving victims wondering why they were attacked.
Watchdog groups such as Release International said the widespread violence carried out by the Fulani militants has intensified the suffering of Christians in Nigeria.
In 2014, the Fulanis killed more than 1,200 people, according to the Global Terrorism Index, making the Fulanis during that year the world's fourth deadliest militant group, the BBC reported.
