The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has strongly criticized former US President Donald Trump's decision to redesignate Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC), calling the action baseless and founded on manipulated statistics.
Organizations Behind Misleading Data
In a policy statement signed by its chairman, Dr. Omoniyi Akinsiju, the think tank identified specific organizations it claims provided exaggerated reports that misrepresented the security situation in Nigeria. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) and Open Doors, a Christian advocacy charity, were named as primary sources of what IMPI describes as unverified data.
IMPI accused these groups of circulating figures that deliberately portrayed Nigeria as a country where Christians face systematic persecution, contradicting verified global terrorism statistics.
Inflated Figures Versus Reality
The think tank presented compelling evidence showing significant discrepancies between the organizations' reports and established terrorism data. According to IMPI, Intersociety reported that 5,068 Christians were killed in 2022, while Open Doors claimed 5,014 faith-related killings during the same period.
These numbers stand in stark contrast to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) which recorded 392 deaths from terrorism in Nigeria for 2022, representing the lowest figure since 2011. The GTI further documented 565 terrorism-related deaths in 2024.
"Our findings indicate that the total number of terrorism-related fatalities in Nigeria was nowhere near the inflated data presented by these organizations," IMPI stated. "While every life lost is tragic, such fabrications only serve divisive and political motives."
Call for Verification and Diplomatic Engagement
IMPI expressed deep concern that the United States government relied on what it termed "unverified and fictitious data" to reach its policy decision. The group urged Washington to independently validate all security-related figures before taking consequential policy actions.
The policy initiative also described the 2020 CPC listing under Trump's administration as a "questionable decision", given statistical evidence showing declining terrorism fatalities at that time.
IMPI revealed that Intersociety had, since 2019, published inconsistent reports claiming that most violent deaths in Nigeria were "Christian deaths," despite the 2019 GTI recording a 39.1 percent decrease in terrorism-related killings.
"The import here is that Intersociety attributed virtually all reported fatalities to Christian deaths," IMPI noted. "This deliberate inflation of figures was designed to inflame religious sentiment and justify the CPC label."
The think tank maintained that genuine understanding through direct government-to-government engagement would enable the United States to withdraw Nigeria from the CPC list, restore diplomatic balance, and prevent the misuse of data in future policy decisions.
Nigeria's Foreign Ministry had previously commented on claims about widespread Christian killings, stating that such assertions "did not reflect the reality on the ground."
