Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, risks disintegration, warned Bishop Luka Gopep, the auxiliary bishop of Minna, the capital of Nigeria’s Niger State (map).

“We are no longer confronted by the Boko Haram terrorists but by groups of bandits, armed Fulani shepherds who raid communities to steal herds of cattle, killing people and raping women and also gangs of kidnappers committed to kidnapping for the purpose of financial and material extortion,” he said. “In order words, the current situation in Nigeria has gone beyond religiously motivated violence and clashes.”