Revd Joseph Kuran, also known as Zakariya, from the central state of Nasarawa was cutting down trees for house-building last Thursday when two armed men attacked him, local sources say.
Who are the Fulani?*
- 20 million-strong nomadic community spread across Western Africa
- Fulani herds have been forced towards Christian areas by the Sahara Desert's frontier moving southward
- Advancing Fulani-owned herds have increasingly encroached on croplands in Nigeria's Christian south
- Conflicts have grown increasingly violent in recent years
- The 2015 Global Terrorism Index ranks Fulani militants one of the five deadliest terrorist organisations
*World Watch Monitor
A Twitter user claiming to be his nephew posted graphic photos on the social media site which purported to show the remains of Revd Joseph.
He said: "They attacked him on his farm, cut off his arms and legs; then they chopped his head with a machete. I received a call on Thursday evening that my uncle, a pastor with ECWA was killed by Fulani herdsmen.
"Whoever is close to Governor Al-Makura of Nasarawa State should please inform him that we demand the perpetrators should be brought to book.
"No one is saying anything about the clandestine killings by Fulani herdsmen happening almost every day."
Local Christians claim Fulani herdsmen were hired by a Muslim to kill Revd Kuran following a dispute over the ownership of a farm.
Revd Kuran, whose church is based in the town of Obi, leaves behind a wife and seven children.
The Christian anti-persecution charity, World Watch Monitor (WWM) says hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have had to flee from largely Christian areas after recent attacks by Fulani herdsmen.
WWM said: "Obscured by Boko Haram's headlines, this violence has claimed thousands of Christian lives in recent years.
"Cattle rustling and disputes over land provide a pretext to the violence across the Middle Belt. Moreover, the attacks have now spread further south."
Open Doors International is warning Christians have been driven from their land by the Fulani - who want to impose Islamic law - while Christian homes and churches have been destoryed, in what the organisation says amounts to "ethnic cleansing."