Its armed wing was formed in 1985 and is called Atika (Diola for "the combatant").

Its leader was Father Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, who died on 13 January 2007.

Senghor signed a peace agreement with the government of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade in 2004.

However, several factions of the MFDC refused to participate in the peace deal and continued their fighting.

The movement was rumored to have involved itself militarily in the 2016–2017 Gambian constitutional crisis and the subsequent ECOWAS military intervention in the Gambia on Yahya Jammeh's side.