Report: Over 55,000 Nigerians killed, 21,000 abducted in four years 

A new report by the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) says over 55,910 civilians were killed in Nigeria in the past four years.

A statement issued on Thursday said the study investigated data from October 2019 to September 2023.

The report also indicated that over 11,000 incidents of extreme violence and 21,000 abductions took place during the period across the country.

The ORFA study said data showed that violent activities by the Fulani ethnic militia (FEM) are predominantly concentrated in the north-central region while the Nigerian military resources are centred in the north-east and north-west.

“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 reads.

“In the north-central zone alone, 3,007 incidents of extreme violence occurred. A total of 2,010 incidents involved killings, 700 were abduction incidents, and 297 were a combination of killings and abductions.

“The Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) killed at least 42% of all civilians, while Boko Haram and ISWAP (‘Islamic State West Africa Province) combined killed 10%.

“FEM, an ethnoreligious terror group, is considered by many security experts to be a ‘twin’ of Islamists killing and kidnapping civilians in Northern Nigeria. Land-based community attacks form the largest category of civilian killings (81%).

“FEM invade small Christian farming settlements to kill, rape, abduct, and burn homes. A total of 2.7 Christians were killed for every Muslim in the reporting period. Islamist extremists kill both Muslims and Christians.

“Although Christian death tolls are far higher.Proportional loss: in states where attacks occur, proportional loss to Christian communities is exceptionally high. In terms of state populations, 6.5 times as many Christians are being murdered as Muslims.”

The report also showed that Christians are 1.4 times more likely to be abducted than Muslims.

“This pattern underscores the targeted nature of these kidnappings, especially by the Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), which often focuses on Christian communities,” it added.

“It also reveals that analysts like Rev. Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam recognize this as a component of a larger strategy to destabilise and terrorise vulnerable groups.

The authors of the report called on the international community to pay close attention to the alarming findings, adding that a critical need for increased global involvement in combating the human rights violations is necessary.