The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has replied to the BBC Disinformation Unit inquisition on the authenticity of data about Christians killed in the Northern and Middle Belt part of the country, which was used to justify the Christian Genocide narrative making the rounds in the country.
The Onitsha-based NGO stated in its response shared with Sahara Reporters that its data is dated as far back as 2009, starting from the onset of the Boko haram insurgency, which led to the burning and shutting down of churches in North-East Nigeria, the epicentre of the insurgency.
The human rights organisation Intersociety, through its Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, revealed that the current INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, recently appointed by the Tinubu administration, had written a legal brief to one of the major reports on religious violence and killings in Nigeria.
“In a 312-page Report by the Aid to the Church in Need, released at the Vatican on October 21, 2025. The Mother Report was titled: “Religious Freedom in the World 2025”, with 1248 pages. The Nigerian version of the Report is titled: “Genocide in Nigeria: The Implications for the International Community.” Intersociety stated.
According to Intersociety, the legal opinion of the above report was prepared by Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), the current INEC chairman.
” In the Legal Opinion version of the Report, it is not only that the 13,000 burnt or destroyed or closed down churches were quoted, but other sources also quoted it, which was originally cited in Anna Mulder and her Open Doors Report of 2015, covering the Boko Haram Insurgency period of July 2009 to Dec 2014,” Intersociety added.
The NGO stated that Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), while writing his legal opinion on the above report, cited and referenced respected Ewelina Ochab, a celebrated researcher and independent campaigner on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Intersociety, after laying the facts on the ground, directed the BBC towards a more dodgy statistic released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
” Here are the questions the BBC must push back to the Nigerian government: Nigerian Government’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had on December 17, 2024, released an “America Wonder Statistics”, saying “between May 2023 and April 2024, a period of one year: “614,373 citizens died in Nigeria from insecurity”. “Your team should therefore ask the Nigerian government how it arrived at such ‘America wonder statistics” Intersociety quizzed.
The Onitsha-based NGO and human rights organisation closed its defence by reiterating that the organisation has remained a leading rights advocacy organisation since 2008, getting its data from primary and secondary sources.
According to the NGO, Primary Sources include direct, survivors’ and eyewitnesses’ accounts, and its Secondary Sources are accounts from other credible and verifiable sources, including local and international media organizations, victim-communities, research and investigative groups (local and international), declassified and credible state actor accounts, internationally respected persons, and diplomatic and intergovernmental accounts.
