Nigeria is grappling with a severe insecurity with a staggering 55,910 people killed and 21,000 others abducted by terror groups in the past four years. This grim reality is revealed in a new study by the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA).
The study obtained by BusinessDay on Thursday in Jos, Plateau State Capital, which analysed terror attacks since 2019, found that the majority of the victims were Christians, with 2.7 Christians killed for every Muslim. The Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) is responsible for 42% of all civilian killings, while Boko Haram and ISWAP combined killed 10%.
“The Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) are targeting Christian population, while Muslims also suffer severely at their hands. Kidnappers work to Islamist goals. Where young women are kidnapped, tortured and sexually violated, hope for normal married life, and family, may vanish”; Frans Vierhout, ORFA data scientist.
The ORFA data project reveals that the mass killings perpetrated by terrorists in Nigerian communities are the outcome of a new study covering a period of four years between 1st October 2019 – 30th September 2023. The details of the mass killings are alarming, with 3,007 incidents of extreme violence occurring in the North Central zone alone.
“Millions of people are left undefended. For years, we’ve heard of calls for help being ignored, as terrorists attack vulnerable communities”; notes Frans Vierhout.
The study found that Islamist extremists enjoy relative freedom to carry out atrocities against civilians in large regions of Nigeria, as military operations are concentrated in the North-East and North-West, hundreds of miles away from the scenes of FEM atrocities.
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The ORFA data project also reveals the widening reach of Islamist kidnapping in Nigeria, with incidents escalating through the four years: 2020 (1,665 people abducted), 2021 (5,907 people abducted), 2022 (7,705 people abducted), and 2023 (6,255 people abducted).
“Christians are 1.4 times more likely to be abducted than Muslims. In terms of state populations, proportional loss of Christians is higher: around 5.1 Christians are abducted for every Muslim in terms of local populations”; the statement notes.
The authors of the ORFA data project however urge international community to examine the data and to do more to fully understand the scale of the challenge to Nigeria.
ORFA added that as at the end of 2023, the International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reported 3.3 million Nigerians were forcibly displaced from their homes and surviving in makeshift camps.
