By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), describing the move as misguided and based on “jaundiced, obtrusive data” supplied by organizations with hidden agendas.

In a policy statement signed by its Chairman, Dr. Omoniyi Akinsiju, IMPI said the designation relied heavily on manipulated reports from both local and foreign non-governmental organizations aiming to portray Nigeria as engaged in religious persecution.

The think tank specifically identified the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) and Open Doors, a global Christian charity, as sources of what it called “fictitious and exaggerated data.”

“We are concerned about the disturbing trend of manufacturing terrorism-related statistics to fit a religious persecution narrative. Every human life is sacred, but it is equally immoral to concoct inflated death figures to advance political or religious interests,” the statement read.

IMPI highlighted inconsistencies between these groups’ reports and internationally recognized data, such as the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) and Statista. For instance, Intersociety claimed 5,068 Christians were killed in Nigeria in 2022, while Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List reported 5,014 Christian deaths in the same year—figures far exceeding GTI’s verified 392 terrorism-related deaths in Nigeria for 2022.

Even as GTI recorded slight increases to 533 deaths in 2023 and 565 in 2024, these numbers remain far below the inflated figures cited by advocacy groups, some alleging over 8,000 Christian deaths in a single year.

“The disparity between verified terrorism data and these exaggerated reports exposes a troubling industry of falsehood,” IMPI stated. “These figures were used to justify Nigeria’s CPC redesignation—a move not supported by empirical evidence.”

The group further pointed out that Open Doors claimed 82% of all Christians killed globally for faith-related reasons in 2023 were in Nigeria, while another report alleged 7,087 Christian deaths in just the first 220 days of 2024. IMPI countered these claims with verified data, describing the discrepancy as “evidence of deliberate misinformation designed to manipulate international opinion.”

IMPI also traced Intersociety’s pattern of inflating numbers since 2019, contrasting their reports with GTI data showing a 39.1% decline in terrorism deaths that year, from 2,043 in 2018 to 1,245 in 2019.

“Despite the documented decline, Intersociety reported between 1,000 and 1,200 so-called ‘Christian deaths,’ effectively attributing nearly every violent incident to religious killings. This is a clear attempt to inflame sectarian tensions and influence U.S. foreign policy,” the group said.

The think tank recalled that in 2020, Trump’s administration relied on similar data to place Nigeria on the CPC list, despite a visible downward trend in terrorism-related deaths, calling the decision “questionable and unjustified.”

IMPI urged the U.S. government to re-examine the data underpinning its policy decisions and to work closely with Nigerian authorities to ensure a factual and balanced understanding of the country’s security landscape.

“We expect the U.S. to validate any information presented to its leadership before making policy pronouncements. A relationship built on facts, not propaganda, is the foundation of credible international diplomacy,” the statement concluded.