Daniel Musa, a pastor from Adamawa State, recounts being abducted from his home in May 2023 by armed men who demanded 15 million naira ransom. After three days blindfolded in mountain captivity, gunfire erupted and his blindfold was removed by men in olive-green uniforms, members of Pulaku, a predominantly Fulani vigilante organisation fighting kidnapping and cattle rustling. "They saved my life," Musa said. His church later presented Pulaku with an award.
But others accuse the group of serious abuses. One man claims Pulaku members held him for more than two months and beat him so badly he lost consciousness. The contrasting accounts highlight the uneasy role of armed community vigilantes in a region where formal security forces have struggled to contain rampant kidnapping and cattle theft.
Pulaku operates openly, conducting drills with locally made firearms, machetes and herding sticks outside Yola. Recruits like Mahmud, a former cattle herder, say they are ready to fight "day in, day out." Between July 2025 and June 2026, SBM Intelligence recorded 21 kidnapping incidents in Adamawa involving 77 people, and four in Taraba involving 14 people. Cattle theft is also widespread: a 2024 study estimated over 134,000 cattle were stolen in Taraba between 1999 and 2022, while more than 113,000 were recovered in Adamawa.
Fulani community leader Alhaji Bello Ardo said the ethnic group faces unfair stereotyping in media coverage linking Fulani identity to crime. "It's painful to see an entire ethnic group being stereotyped," he said, noting that Fulani pastoralists are themselves victims of cattle theft and violence.
Pulaku's growing role has brought scrutiny, as the group straddles the line between community defence and potential abuse in a security vacuum.