Originally published 2021-05-26.
In May 2021, the Nigerian rights group Intersociety (the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law) published a report saying that about 1,470 Christians were killed in Nigeria between January and April 2021, and that more than 2,200 were abducted. The group called it the deadliest four-month period it had recorded since 2014, and blamed most of the killings on armed Islamist groups and radicalised Fulani herders.
The figures were widely shared, often rounded to "1,400" or "1,500". What follows explains what the report found, who compiled it and how, why the numbers are contested, and what the wider picture of violence in Nigeria looks like.
What the Intersociety report found
The report, dated 11 May 2021 and issued from Onitsha in south-east Nigeria, was signed by the group's principal officers, led by its chairman, criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi. Its headline findings for January to April 2021 were:
- About 1,470 Christians killed.
- More than 2,200 Christians abducted, out of roughly 3,200 people kidnapped in total.
- Around 220 Christian captives feared to have died or been killed in captivity.
By state, Kaduna recorded the most deaths, around 300, followed by Benue with about 200, Plateau with about 90, and the south-eastern states of Ebonyi, Enugu and Anambra with about 80 between them. Kaduna also had the most abductions, around 800, followed by Niger State with about 300. Victims included farmers, travellers and people living in remote villages.
Note that the report's own web address and some headlines quote slightly different totals (1,370 killed and 2,500 abducted) from those in the body of the text. The figures above are the ones given in the report itself.
Who the report blamed
Intersociety attributed more than 800 of the deaths, over half the total, to Fulani herders it described as radicalised, mostly in southern Kaduna, Plateau, Benue and the south-east. It linked further killings in the north-east, especially Borno, Adamawa and Taraba, to the jihadist groups Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Ansaru. Armed gangs known locally as bandits were blamed for many abductions across the north-west.
The report also accused Nigeria's own security forces, saying the army killed at least 120 Christians and that hundreds of people in the south-east were held without trial. It rejected the official framing of many attacks as "herder-farmer clashes" or banditry, and accused the government of hiding a religious motive behind such labels.
The report also alleged that some abducted Christian girls, particularly in Katsina State, had been forced into marriage with Muslim men and made to convert. These cases are difficult to verify independently, although similar accounts have been documented by other rights groups over the years.
How the numbers were gathered, and their limits
Intersociety said it drew on weeks of research, including interviews with eyewitnesses, survivors, local residents, journalists and activists, along with media reports and open-source databases such as the Council on Foreign Relations' Nigeria Security Tracker. It said a 26-page backup document supported its figures.
These are serious efforts, but readers should keep a few cautions in mind. Intersociety is an advocacy group, and its counts have not been independently audited. Deciding whether a victim was Christian, and whether faith was the reason for an attack, is often hard in places where religion, ethnicity, land and crime overlap. Independent trackers such as ACLED and the CFR tracker generally count all victims and do not sort them by religion, so their totals are not directly comparable.
None of this means the suffering is exaggerated. It means that a single number rarely captures who is dying, why, and at whose hands.
The wider picture of violence in Nigeria
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is roughly split between a mainly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south, with mixed communities in the Middle Belt states such as Kaduna, Plateau and Benue. Several different conflicts run at the same time.
The jihadist insurgency in the north-east
Boko Haram was founded by Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri in 2002 and launched an armed uprising in 2009. Its name is usually translated as "Western education is forbidden". The insurgency has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million. In 2016 the movement split, and ISWAP emerged as a rival faction. Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, died in May 2021 during a clash with ISWAP, only weeks after this report was published. These groups have killed many Muslims as well as Christians, attacking mosques, markets and military bases.
Farmer-herder violence in the Middle Belt
In central Nigeria, conflict between mostly Muslim Fulani herders and mostly Christian farming communities has grown deadlier, driven by competition for land and water, desertification, population growth and weak policing. Christian groups see a religious campaign, while many analysts describe a mix of economic, ethnic and religious causes. Attacks and reprisals have come from both sides.
Banditry and mass kidnapping
In the north-west, criminal gangs have turned kidnapping for ransom into an industry, often targeting schools. In December 2020 hundreds of boys were seized from a school in Kankara, Katsina State, and 344 were freed a week later. In February 2021 gunmen took 279 girls from a school in Jangebe, Zamfara State (early reports said 317); they were released within days.
Why Chibok became a symbol
The kidnapping that made Nigeria's crisis known worldwide took place on the night of 14 to 15 April 2014, when Boko Haram took 276 schoolgirls from their school in Chibok, Borno State. Fifty-seven escaped almost at once, more than 100 were later freed through negotiations, and others escaped or were rescued over the years. Around 80 were still unaccounted for a decade later.
The group took about 110 girls from a school in Dapchi in 2018, and the pattern of school abductions has continued. Many of those taken have been forced into marriage or servitude, a practice rights groups describe as sexual slavery.
How others described the situation
Illia Djadi, a senior analyst on religious freedom in sub-Saharan Africa for the charity Open Doors, told Christian Today that people in Nigeria "are no longer safe", describing families who fear being attacked or kidnapped while travelling, at home or on the way to church.
Open Doors has for years ranked Nigeria among the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian, and has recorded more Christians killed for their faith there than in any other country. The Nigerian government has rejected claims of a targeted religious campaign, saying insecurity affects all communities.
What the figures tell us
Whatever the exact count, the early months of 2021 were a period of severe insecurity across Nigeria, and Christian communities in the north and Middle Belt were among those hit hardest. The most useful way to read reports like Intersociety's is alongside other data: who compiled the figures, what period and area they cover, and how they decided the motive behind each attack.
For people outside Nigeria, supporting credible humanitarian and documentation groups, and paying attention to independent reporting from the affected regions, helps keep these communities from being forgotten between headlines.
Sources: Intersociety special report, 11 May 2021; Christian Today, 16 May 2021; Wikipedia: Boko Haram; Wikipedia: Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping.
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