Nigerian Researchers to Present Government’s “scorecard” Detailing Christian Persecution

“We want the world to see the number of Christians that have been massacred, kidnappings, destruction of Christian schools and Churches, and the attacks that have been meted against Christians in the Buhari-led administration in the last five months,” Mr. Umeagbalasi further said, adding that the updated report will be launched in the second week of June, shortly after Buhari hands over power to the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He added, “To the rest of the world, Buhari is handing over the presidency. But for us, this is an opportunity to give the outgoing president his human rights scorecard, and he has performed very poorly concerning the respect of the freedom of religion.”

“Christians have been mercilessly butchered under his watch. Nigerians have watched helplessly as the government aided persecution and abated justice in the killings, kidnappings, and all the attacks that targeted Christians,” Mr. Umeagbalasi said.

According to a recent Intersociety report, 52,250 Christians and 34,000 moderate Muslims have been butchered or hacked to death.

In the May 16 interview with ACI Africa, Mr. Umeagbalasi said that over 100 Christians have been killed in Benue, Nasarawa, and Southern Kaduna since April 10.

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The founder and board chair of Intersociety said that it was not surprising that killings had continued unabated even after the launch of the perturbing report. 

“We are doing our compilations and in just 35 days since April 10, not less than 150 Christians have been killed across Benue, Nasarawa, and southern Kaduna. We didn’t expect the government to act on our report, even after it went viral. The government has not been doing anything to protect Christians. It is using the murderous Fulanis to kill Christians and to try to Islamize these parts of the country,” he said.

Intersociety is also investigating the rising violence in Imo State where locals are agitated after they were “forced to embrace a leader who was imposed on them,” the Intersociety official tells ACI Africa.

“In Imo State people are against a caliphate-installed man who contested for the governor’s position, lost, and was given the seat through a court intervention,” Mr. Umeagbalasi who has a background in criminology, security studies as well as conflict resolution says.

He adds, “The man is trying to sustain his rogue mandate through violence and he has the full support of the caliphate agents of the government. Atrocities are being committed against innocent civilians. People, mostly Christians, are being targeted in this violence and many have been forced to flee.”

Intersociety does research and investigation by direct contacts with the victims, eyewitnesses, media tracking, review of credible local and international reports, interviews, and closed sources among other methods.

The organization’s founder shares the relevance of their investigation into massacres, and other incidences of persecution in Nigeria, saying, “The world is ruled by data. No crime is committed unless it is documented. We are therefore working to establish an international database to help the international community in identifying perpetrators of these atrocities. If we document them, with their names, they will be punished by the international community by being denied travel documents and other opportunities abroad, at least.”

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.