The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has challenged the credibility of reports used by some allies of United States President Donald Trump to support claims of a so-called “Christian genocide” in Nigeria.
A recent BBC investigation revealed that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and media personality Bill Maher based their arguments on figures from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety), a little-known non-governmental organization now facing questions over its data collection methods.
InterSociety had claimed that more than 100,000 Christians and 60,000 moderate Muslims were killed in Nigeria between 2009 and 2024. Those figures have been repeatedly cited in U.S. conservative discussions on Nigeria and Africa’s religious conflicts.
However, according to the BBC, the group’s reports lack transparency and verifiable evidence. Investigators found that InterSociety often updates older reports with what it calls “new findings,” without identifying the sources or data used. This, experts say, makes the figures impossible to confirm.
Analysts have warned that such exaggerated or unverified statistics could deepen religious divisions and influence foreign governments’ perceptions of Nigeria’s internal security situation.
The BBC report stressed that for data shaping international policy debates, “transparency is not optional — it’s essential.”