The Executive Director of the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), Emeka Umeagbalasi, has strongly rejected an investigation by The New York Times that questioned the credibility of data produced by his organisation on religious killings in Nigeria, describing the report as “mischievous,” “wicked,” and aimed at discrediting civil society advocacy.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News on Monday, Umeagbalasi insisted that neither The New York Times nor the BBC conducted a genuine investigation into his organisation’s work, arguing instead that both media outlets approached the subject with a predetermined agenda.
“BBC and New York Times, to our own definition, never carried out any investigation. They are here to discredit us. Motive is one of the most difficult things to be detected in human interaction,” he said.
Umeagbalasi was responding to reports by The New York Times and the BBC which concluded that while Nigeria’s insecurity is severe, it does not amount to a one-sided religious extermination, and that figures cited by Intersociety were often unverified, inflated, and relied heavily on secondary sources.
He categorically denied claims that Intersociety admitted to rarely verifying deaths.
“That is totally incorrect. New York Times said we admitted that we don’t often verify our data. That was not what we told them. If we had admitted that, what would be the sense of allowing them to come to us in the first place?”
Providing context on his background, Umeagbalasi described himself as a long-serving grassroots human rights campaigner.
“I have been a volunteer human rights activist since my twenties, dating back to 1994. I started with the Civil Liberties Organisation, rose to Southeast Vice Chairman of its management committee, joined Amnesty International Nigeria and became its Honorary Coordinator.”
He said Intersociety was founded in 2008 alongside other professionals.
“No one person can pilot an organisation. I work with a group of dedicated professionals who earn their living elsewhere. Yes, people say I sell screwdrivers. Everybody has a background, and that is where I started from.”
On how The New York Times engagement began, Umeagbalasi said the paper initiated contact.
“We were on our own when New York Times contacted us. The reporter had interviewed us previously on issues like the Ezu River killings of January 2013 and the Obinagu Army massacre.”
He added that he initially resisted renewed contact.
“We resisted her return because of the timing and other circumstances. But she came with one of our long-time friends, Judy Eleke of ThisDay, and convinced us she meant well.”
Defending Intersociety’s data, Umeagbalasi stressed that the organisation focuses specifically on religiously motivated killings, not general insecurity.
“There are many types of insecurity. Political, economic, criminal. What we are dealing with here is religious insecurity.”
He said Intersociety’s data spans more than a decade.
“Our data has been in existence since 2009. Every year, we compile data. Soon, we will release a detailed yearly breakdown of patterns and trends of religious killings in Nigeria.”
According to him, Intersociety estimates that between 2009 and 2025:
“No fewer than 125,000 Christians and about 60,000 moderate Muslims were killed by Islamic jihadists.”
He was emphatic that the figures do not include general insecurity statistics.
“We are not referring to National Bureau of Statistics data that says 614,000 Nigerians were killed between 2023 and 2024. We are talking strictly about religiously motivated killings.”
Addressing criticism about verification methods, Umeagbalasi argued that human rights documentation globally relies on both primary and secondary sources.
“You can never be part of a crime you did not witness. What rules criminal justice is circumstantial evidence. Even when you go to a crime scene, you were not there when it happened. You must be told the story.”
He listed multiple specialised sources used by Intersociety.
“We rely on specific investigative media reports, Open Doors reports, Christian Post, NEMDEM, Truth Nigeria, Morning Star News, and our own field networks. There is no exaggeration in our reports.”
Umeagbalasi also rejected claims that his organisation targets Christians alone.
“Religious freedom is not restricted to Christians. Muslims also have the right to freedom of religion.”
He recalled that Intersociety previously focused advocacy on Shiite Muslims.
“Between 2015 and 2018, most of our advocacy was on the persecution of Shiite Muslims, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.”
On allegations that his data influenced U.S. foreign policy and military actions, Umeagbalasi dismissed the claim outright.
“Our data could not have led to the bombing of Sokoto or any joint military action. We are a non-state civil society organisation. We are not the CIA, DSS, Nigerian Armed Forces or the U.S. military.”
He said the purpose of publishing data was to prompt government action.
“Since 2009, we have written to Nigerian authorities — ministers, inspectors general of police — with no response. When local justice calls are ignored, they can escalate to regional or international justice calls.”
Umeagbalasi accused The New York Times of deliberately framing its report to create dangerous implications.
“New York Times was very mischievous and very wicked to frame that kind of headline. If I had detected that motive, that woman would not have come near us.”
He also questioned the timing of the publication.
“The interview was conducted on December 16. What is the connection between that and what happened on December 25? Nine days later.”
Despite the controversy, Umeagbalasi maintained that Intersociety’s work remains focused on protecting lives.
“We are human rights monitors and trackers. Once our data is aggregated, we put it out there for the protection of humanity.”
Boluwatife Enome
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