AFRICA/NIGERIA – The Nigerian Bishops’ Conference: ‘Published figures of priests killed or abducted are incorrect’

AFRICA/NIGERIA – The Nigerian Bishops’ Conference: ‘Published numbers of priests killed and abducted are incorrect’

Abuja (Agenzia Fides). “According to what we have, the data are not entirely accurate.” Fides questioned Father Zacharia Nyantiso Aya Samjumi as secretary general of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and he denied what was incorrectly reported (“Sahara Reports”) that 145 Catholic priests were murdered in Nigeria in 2022. This figure had a significant impact and was quickly relaunched by Fides without any serious verification from digital newspapers. Official bodies of the Catholic Church in Nigeria have not confirmed the online numbers about Catholic priests who were killed in Nigeria between January and December 2022. Father Zacharia Nyantiso-Aya Samjumi says that there have been attacks on Catholic priests. But the numbers are not consistent with what has been published. Even though we are still collecting data, they are slowly coming from the diocesan offices. The online publication doesn’t give an accurate figure.
This is actually a mistaken reading of data from a Nigerian intelligence firm SB Morgen Intelligence. SBM released this report on January 23. It stated that 39 Catholic priests were murdered in 2022, while 30 others were kidnapped last Year.
According to the report, 145 attacks on Catholic priests had been recorded in 2022.
The intelligence report goes to great lengths to provide figures about attacks and alleged murders committed against Catholic priests in Nigerian regions. These crimes were perpetrated either by Fulani herdsmen or bandits (IPOB).
SBM Intelligence was established in 2015 by Cheta Nyanze, an expert in media management and information technology.
The Nigerian scandal rekindles doubts and perplexities over the ever-increasing tendency “quantify” and translate in numbers the sufferings of Christians around the globe. Exorbitant data is often relaunched with strong media impact to provide a semblance “scientific rigor” to data dissemination that is in reality unverifiable, and often unreliable. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides News, 25/1/2023)

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