Nigeria is still dealing with a multilayered security problem characterized by widespread violence, notably targeting religious communities, which has resulted in the deaths of 55,910 individuals in 9,970 attacks and the kidnapping of 21,621 persons in 2,705 incidents during the last four years.
According to a new investigative research released on Thursday by The Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa, the data presented in the report encompassed four years, from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2023, and provided crucial insights into the patterns and dynamics of violent attacks.
The ORFA, which monitors the state of religious freedom, documents rights violations, and informs decision-makers through advocacy, lamented that insurgents killed Nigerian citizens while terror groups had relative freedom to commit atrocities against civilians in large parts of Nigeria, “as military pursue targets hundreds of miles away.”
ORFA identified 11,610 separate attacks in which persons were killed or abducted. Of them, 8,905 involved killings without abductions, 1,065 involved both killings and abductions, and 1,640 involved abductions but no killings.
Over the course of four years, this equates to an average of eight attacks each day involving homicides and/or abductions. These figures include attacks in which civilians, security forces, and/or terrorist groups were murdered and abducted.
“Many civilians lived in high levels of insecurity and fear of the unexpected. For instance, eye witnesses talked about children sleeping in trees at night. In total 30,880 civilians were killed in 6,942 attacks. The remaining 25,030 people killed were members of the Security Forces or Terror Groups. Additionally, 21,532 civilians were abducted in 2,670 attacks. Another 89 people abducted were members of the Security Forces or Terror Groups.
“There were frequent clashes between Security Forces and Terror Groups and between Terror Groups themselves. This had impact on civilians too. In 3,028 attacks (out of the 9,970 attacks with killings) only non-civilians were killed: 4,377 were members of the Security Forces and 19,323 members of Terror Groups. In 35 attacks (out of the 2,705 attacks with abductions) only non-civilians were abducted: 68 belonging to the Security Forces and 2 to Terror Groups.”
The data showed that more Nigerian Christians were victims of violence than Nigerians holding to other religious affiliations.
Among the 30,880 individuals slain throughout the four-year reporting period, 16,769 were Christians, while 6,235 were Muslims.
Of the 21,532 individuals abducted, 11,185 were Christians and 7,899 were Muslims.
The number of African Traditional Religionists (ATRs) killed was 154, while 184 were abducted. The religious affiliations of 7,722 individuals dead and 2,264 civilians abducted were unclear.
When considering the religious composition of the states, the ratio of Christians to Muslims slain increased dramatically.
In terms of overall numbers, the ratio of Christians to Muslims killed was 2.7:1, while the ratio of Christians to Muslims abducted was 1.4:1.
However, when the proportional numbers of the Christian and Muslim populations inside the various states are taken into consideration, the ratio of Christians to Muslims killed rises to 6.5:1, while the ratio of Christians to Muslims abducted rises to 5.1:1, according to the report.
In addition, ORFA stated on Thursday that only a small number of people were slain by ISIS or al-Qaeda affiliates over the four-year period under examination.
“Across the country, over 11,000 incidents of extreme violence took place during the data period, with more than 55,000 killings and 21,000 abductions,” the statement by ORFA emphasised.
The statement signed by the organisation’s Data Scientist Frans Vierhout, was titled, “Blind eyes to bloodshed: FulaniEthnic Militia killing Nigerian civilians unopposed.”
According to the statement, the mass killings perpetrated by the terrorists in Nigerian communities are the outcome of a new study covering a period of four years between October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2023.
The details of the mass killings which were made public in a statement on Thursday further read; “Mass killings, abductions and torture of whole families go largely unchallenged as military pursue targets hundreds of miles away, finds four-year data project
“Islamist extremists enjoy relative freedom to carry out atrocities against civilians in large regions of Nigeria, according to data scientists behind a four-year study.
“Researchers at the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa recorded over 55,000 killings and mapped thousands of farm massacres and mass abductions in a four-year period, including in Nigeria’s fragile North Central Zone and Southern Kaduna.”
“A little-known terror group, the Fulani Ethnic Militia or FEM, commit mass killings hundreds of times a year through this region,” it reported.
