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As Nigeria continues to wage war against insecurity, no fewer than 55,910 persons were killed while 21,000 others were abducted by terror groups operating in different parts of the country in the past four years, according to a new study that looked at terror attacks since 2019.
More Nigerians were kidnapped in 2022 than previous years, to the findings of the report, which was released to members of the public on Thursday by The Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa further revealed.
The study, which was obtained by journalists in Jos on Thursday, noted that the over 55,000 victims included both Muslims and Christians, although Christian death tolls are far higher.
The ORFA, which monitors the state of religious freedom, documents rights violations, and informs decision-makers through advocacy lamented that Nigerian citizens were killed by the insurgents while the terror groups enjoyed relative freedom to carry out atrocities against civilians in large regions of Nigeria, “as military pursue targets hundreds of miles away.”
A statement on Thursday by ORFA stressed that only a fraction of civilians were killed by ISIS or al-Qaeda affiliates during the four year period under review.
“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 was 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.
The statement specifically noted that 55,910 people were killed in the context of terror groups in Nigeria within the four-year of study.
Continuing, it disclosed, “In the North Central zone alone, 3,007 incidents of extreme violence occurred. 2,010 incidents involved killings, 700 were abduction incidents, and 297 were a combination of killings and abductions.
“Now data mapping has revealed security operations are concentrated in the North-East and North-West of Nigeria, hundreds of miles from the scenes of FEM atrocities.
“Across the North-Central zone and Southern Kaduna – where hundreds of FEM atrocities occur – there is markedly little security engagement at the scene of attacks.
“Millions of people are left undefended,” notes Frans Vierhout, Senior Analyst at The Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa.
“For years, we’ve heard of calls for help being ignored, as terrorists attack vulnerable communities,” Vierhout pointed out.
The statement revealed more that one of the key findings in the four-year study was that “The little-known Fulani Ethnic Militia killed at least 42 per cent of all civilians, while Boko Haram and ISWAP (‘Islamic State West Africa Province) combined killed 10 per cent.
“The Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), an ethno-religious terror group, are 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 invaded small Christian farming settlements to kill, rape, abduct, and burn homes, just as 2.7 Christians were killed for every Muslim in the reporting period.
“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
“Abduction: hallmark of Islamist terror
“The ORFA data project also reveals the widening reach of Islamist kidnapping in Nigeria, with incidents escalating through the four years: 2020 (1,665 people abducted)
“In the year 2021 (5,907 people abducted) 2022 (7,705 people abducted) and 2023 (6,255 people abducted). Christians are 1.4 times more likely to be abducted than Muslims.
“In terms of state populations, proportional loss of Christians is higher: around 5.1 Christians are abducted for every Muslim in terms of local populations.‘Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) are targeting Christian populations, while Muslims also suffer severely at their hands,’ notes Rev. Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam, partner to ORFA and analyst.
“Kidnappers work to Islamist goals. Where young women are kidnapped, tortured, and sexually violated, hope for normal married life and family may vanish.”
At the end of 2023, “The International Displacement Monitoring Centre IDMC reported 3.3 million Nigerians were forcibly displaced from their homes and surviving in makeshift camps”
The authors of the ORFA data project urged the international community to examine the data and to do more to fully understand the scale of the challenge to Nigeria.
