IMPI Faults Trump’s CPC Designation of Nigeria, Says Decision Based on False and Misleading Data

The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), describing it as a judgment based on “jaundiced and misleading data” supplied by local and international groups with hidden agendas.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr. Omoniyi Akinsiju, IMPI accused the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) and Open Doors, a global Christian charity, of producing distorted figures to misrepresent Nigeria as a nation where Christians face systemic persecution.

The organisation expressed concern that certain groups have weaponised terrorism-related statistics to portray Nigeria as a hotspot of religious genocide.

> “No life deserves to be lost for any reason,” IMPI stated. “However, it is equally immoral to fabricate death figures to advance a narrative or justify a political stance.”


IMPI noted that Intersociety and Open Doors have consistently inflated casualty numbers. For instance, while the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) recorded 392 terrorism-related deaths in Nigeria in 2022, Intersociety claimed that over 5,000 Christians were killed in the same year, while Open Doors reported 5,014 faith-based deaths, figures IMPI described as “grossly exaggerated and detached from reality.”

The think tank also pointed out inconsistencies in data published by these advocacy groups in subsequent years. According to GTI, Nigeria recorded 533 deaths in 2023 and 565 in 2024, yet Intersociety and Open Doors claimed over 8,000 and 3,100 Christian deaths, respectively.

“These inflated numbers,” IMPI said, “fuel the false narrative that Christians are victims of genocide in Nigeria, despite verifiable data showing a general decline in terrorism-related killings.”

IMPI further explained that this pattern of data manipulation dates back to 2019, when Intersociety allegedly began releasing questionable reports on “Christian deaths.” The group noted that despite GTI’s evidence of a 39% decline in terrorism-related fatalities that year, Intersociety attributed nearly all reported deaths to Christian victims.

> “This deliberate inflation of figures,” the group asserted, “has been used to provoke religious tensions and justify Trump’s 2020 decision to classify Nigeria as a CPC, even when data indicated a decline in religiously motivated violence.”


IMPI called on the U.S. government to re-evaluate the CPC designation through verified, government-to-government engagement rather than relying on reports from advocacy groups with questionable motives.

> “We urge the U.S. to validate all data before acting on them,” the statement concluded. “A true understanding of Nigeria’s situation will reveal that the CPC designation is unjustified and should be withdrawn.”


The organisation emphasised that while every act of violence must be condemned, the narrative of “Christian genocide” in Nigeria is unsupported by credible global terrorism data.