Amid the noise and movement of a crowded market in Onitsha, southeastern Nigeria, a man sells basic tools—screwdrivers, wrenches, and other hardware—beside wheelbarrows filled with sugar cane and stacks of construction helmets. Few shoppers realize that this modest trader, Emeka Umeagbalasi, has become a controversial voice in international political debates, particularly in discussions about violence against Christians in Nigeria.
Umeagbalasi’s reports and statistics on religious killings have been referenced by prominent United States lawmakers, including Senators Ted Cruz and Riley Moore, as well as Congressman Chris Smith. According to an investigation by The New York Times, written by West Africa bureau chief Ruth Maclean, Umeagbalasi’s claims have travelled far beyond Nigeria, influencing political rhetoric and policy discussions in Washington.
The report traced how narratives originating from southeastern Nigeria eventually reached the highest levels of American politics. On Christmas Day, former U.S. President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes in a different region of Nigeria, a decision reportedly shaped in part by arguments that Christians were being systematically targeted and killed across the country.
For Umeagbalasi, hearing an American president echo concerns similar to his own was deeply validating. He described the moment as “miraculous,” warning that Nigeria faces grave consequences if insecurity is not urgently addressed. “If nothing is done,” he said in an interview, “Nigeria will explode.”
Central to Umeagbalasi’s advocacy is his assertion that approximately 125,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since 2009. However, he has conceded that many of these figures cannot be independently verified. His data is largely compiled from secondary sources, including reports from advocacy organizations, Nigerian media coverage, and online searches, rather than firsthand documentation.
Despite the influence of his work, the U.S. lawmakers who cited his findings declined to comment when contacted by The New York Times. Similarly, a White House spokesperson avoided addressing questions about the reliability of his data, offering only a general condemnation of violence against Christians.
Accurately documenting Nigeria’s security crisis remains a significant challenge. The Nigerian government does not release detailed national statistics on killings, kidnappings, or the religious identity of victims. Many attacks take place in remote or rural areas, where reporting is inconsistent or nonexistent.
Academic research and conflict-monitoring organizations agree that Christians have suffered heavy losses, but they emphasize that insecurity affects Muslims as well. Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) estimates roughly 6,700 deaths in the first seven months of 2025, including fighters and security personnel, with about 3,000 civilian fatalities. These figures, however, do not categorize victims by religion.
Umeagbalasi, a practicing Catholic who founded the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) in 2008, admits that he seldom visits conflict zones. Instead, he often deduces victims’ religious identities based on the location of attacks. For example, he has argued that violence in southern parts of Borno State is more likely to involve Christian victims—a method critics say is deeply flawed.
The New York Times noted that such assumptions conflict with evidence showing that many victims of Boko Haram and other extremist groups are Muslims. This disagreement came into sharp focus following the abduction of 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi State. While local authorities confirmed that all the girls were Muslim, Umeagbalasi insisted they were predominantly Christian, claiming they had been “Islamized.”
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed this allegation. Spokesman Alkasim Abdulkadir criticized Umeagbalasi’s work, describing it as riddled with inaccuracies and driven by confirmation bias.
Security analysts and scholars have also questioned his methodology. Nnamdi Obasi has characterized Intersociety’s data-gathering process as unreliable, while Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah has argued that an exclusive focus on Christian victims distracts from Nigeria’s deeper problems of poor governance, weak institutions, and widespread lawlessness.
Nevertheless, Umeagbalasi remains undeterred. From his home office, where shelves are crammed with old documents and plaques celebrating his “service to humanity,” he continues compiling reports. He claims that nearly 20,000 churches have been destroyed in Nigeria over the past 16 years and estimates the total number of churches in the country at around 100,000. When pressed on how he arrived at that figure, he was candid: “I googled it.”
Despite growing criticism and scrutiny, Umeagbalasi persists in his mission, preparing yet another report on what he believes is a deteriorating security situation for Christians in Nigeria—convinced that his work, however contested, remains necessary.
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