As a push back to a report and enquiry by the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, Disinformation Unit over its role in framing alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Intersociety), has responded that its position was backed by a scientifically gathered and verified statistics as well as a sound legal opinion.
Intersociety chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, responding to BBC unit’s story on Thursday, disclosed that apart from the fact that the organisation’s findings were drawn from a range of credible reports, it also had a legal brief authored by Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN.
Prof. Amupitan is the current Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
According to the BBC unit, Intersociety had fabricated and exaggerated figures to push a false narrative of “Christian genocide” in Nigeria prior to United States President Donald Trump’s threat to launch a swift and fierce attack on terrorists enclave in Nigeria, citing what he described as ongoing violence against Christians and failure of the government to protect religious minorities.
Intersociety Chairman explained that its data covered incidents dating back to 2009, coinciding with the onset of the Boko Haram insurgency, which led to the destruction and closure of numerous churches in the North-East, the epicentre of the violence.
Umeagbalasi said, “Prof. Amupitan prepared the legal opinion for a major international report titled “Genocide in Nigeria: The Implications for the International Community,” which forms part of the 312-page “Religious Freedom in the World 2025” report released by Aid to the Church in Need at the Vatican on October 21, 2025.”
“The legal opinion section of the report referenced the destruction or closure of over 13,000 churches, a figure originally cited in Anna Mulder’s Open Doors Report (2015) covering the Boko Haram insurgency from July 2009 to December 2014,” Intersociety said.
He added that Amupitan also drew from the work of Ewelina Ochab, a noted researcher and advocate against the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
The rights group further urged the “BBC to question the Nigerian government over its own data, citing figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, in December 2024, which claimed that 614,373 Nigerians died from insecurity between May 2023 and April 2024.”
According to Umeagbalasi the organisation’s figures were based on both primary and secondary sources, including eyewitness accounts, reports from local and international media, victim communities, research organisations, declassified state documents, and diplomatic sources.
