Nigerian activist’s figures cited by U.S. lawmakers before Christmas airstrikes

Emeka Umeagbalasi, a screwdriver salesman in Onitsha, Nigeria, has seen his research cited by U.S. Republican lawmakers and promoted as evidence that Christians are being targeted in Nigeria; President Trump launched airstrikes on the other side of the country on Christmas Day, the New York Times reported.

Mr. Umeagbalasi, who runs the group Intersociety from his home, told The Times he has documented 125,000 Christian deaths in Nigeria since 2009 but often does not verify his data. He said his research relies mainly on "secondary sources," including Christian advocacy groups, Nigerian news reports and Google searches, and that he rarely travels to the Middle Belt where much of the violence occurs.

Researchers and Nigerian officials have disputed his methods and figures. An independent monitor, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, estimated about 6,700 people were killed in the first seven months of 2025, including insurgents and military personnel, with only 3,000 recorded as civilians and no disaggregation by religion.

Alkasim Abdulkadir, a spokesman for Nigeria’s foreign minister, said there was "a lot of fallacy to his research, a lot of confirmation bias," and Nnamdi Obasi of the International Crisis Group called Intersociety’s methodology "a total blank." A White House spokeswoman did not address questions about Mr.

Key Topics

World, Emeka Umeagbalasi, Nigeria, Onitsha, Intersociety, President Trump