Nigeria, June 30 -- When Halidu Musa received a phone call on the afternoon of 30 July 2025, he did not expect it to be the last time he would hear his father's voice alive. His father, Musa Yatsu, the vigilante commander of Gurfata village in Gwagwalada Local Government Area of Abuja, had gone to the farm with colleagues to verify reports of renewed destruction of crops allegedly linked to herders. Moments into the call, Halidu said the conversation turned chaotic as gunshots erupted in the background and voices shouted warnings that they were under attack. In what would become his final conversation with his father, Halidu recalled hearing him struggle to communicate as violence unfolded around him.

By evening, Musa Yatsu was dead. His...