The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has criticised US President Donald Trump’s decision to reclassify Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), arguing that the move was based on inaccurate and misleading data provided by certain local and international organisations.
In a statement issued by its chairman, Dr. Omoniyi Akinsiju, IMPI pinpointed two organisations—Intersociety, a Nigerian NGO, and Open Doors, a Christian charity—as responsible for inflating figures that misrepresent Nigeria’s security realities.
IMPI accused these groups of manipulating terrorism-related statistics to portray an exaggerated threat against Christians in Nigeria. “The spread of false information in the campaign to label Nigeria a CPC jurisdiction is deeply troubling,” the statement said.
The organisation noted that Intersociety reported 5,068 Christian deaths in 2022, while Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List claimed 5,014, numbers that conflict with official and global statistics.
Citing the Global Terrorism Index 2022, IMPI highlighted that total global terrorism deaths were 6,701—a 9% reduction from the previous year—and that incidents worldwide decreased by nearly 28%. Specifically, Nigeria recorded 392 terrorism-related deaths in 2022, the lowest since 2011, suggesting that the Christian death toll was significantly overstated by the NGOs.
IMPI warned that reliance on such biased data risks misleading policymakers and distorting the true picture of Nigeria’s security challenges.
