A six-year investigative study by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) has disclosed that 79,323 people were killed in terrorism-related incidents across Nigeria between 2020 and 2025, while 34,773 civilians were abducted during the same period.
The report, titled "Four Times Boko Haram? How the World Misreads Nigeria's Violence," was presented in Jos on Tuesday and details what the organisation described as an extensive analysis of violent attacks across the country.
In a statement signed by ORFA's Senior Research Analyst, Frans Vierhout, the organisation said the findings show that Nigeria recorded an average of seven attacks and 36 deaths daily over the six-year period.
According to the report, civilians accounted for 42,033 of those killed, while the remaining 37,290 fatalities involved security personnel and members of armed groups.
ORFA said the study was the product of years of data collection and verification designed to provide a clearer understanding of the country's evolving security situation.
One of the report's major conclusions challenges the widely held view that Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are responsible for most terrorism-related killings in Nigeria.
It stated that Boko Haram accounted for eight per cent of civilian deaths, while ISWAP was responsible for four per cent, bringing their combined share to 12 per cent.
The report instead alleged that armed groups it identified as "Fulani Terror Groups" were responsible for 44 per cent of civilian killings, representing 18,577 deaths, compared with the 4,941 civilian fatalities attributed to Boko Haram and ISWAP combined.
ORFA stressed that the classification refers only to armed criminal groups and does not apply to the Fulani ethnic group as a whole.
According to Vierhout, the organisation's analysis examined attack locations, victim profiles, methods of operation and seasonal trends, with the evidence indicating a consistent pattern in the violence.
He argued that international attention has focused disproportionately on Boko Haram while overlooking other significant drivers of insecurity in Nigeria.
The report also documented 34,773 civilian abductions during the review period.
It alleged that groups classified as "Fulani Terror Groups" were responsible for 43 per cent of the abductions, while "Unidentified Terror Groups" accounted for 49 per cent.
ORFA further examined what it described as the religious dimension of the conflict.
According to the report, 28,551 Christians and 13,224 Muslims were killed between 2020 and 2025. It added that, after adjusting for population figures in affected states, Christians were killed at a rate 4.4 times higher than Muslims.
The study also explored what it termed a "Captivity by Creed" pattern, based on testimonies gathered from kidnapping survivors.
It claimed that Muslim captives generally faced lower ransom demands and less violence, while Christian captives were more likely to encounter higher ransom demands, prolonged captivity, execution and, in the case of female victims, sexual violence.
The report noted that 15,932 Christians and 15,272 Muslims were abducted during the period but maintained that Christian hostages were more likely to suffer harsher treatment even after ransom payments had been made.
Steven Kefas, ORFA's Senior Research Analyst and author of Captivity by Creed: The Religious Sorting System Nobody Talks About, said survivor accounts collected during the investigation revealed recurring differences in the treatment of abducted victims based on their religious identity.
According to the report, community attacks accounted for about 75 per cent of civilian deaths recorded during the six years, with many incidents involving raids on farming communities, killings, kidnappings, rape and widespread destruction of property.
ORFA said its database captured up to 60 data points for each incident, drawing information from field investigations, local partners, academic institutions, media reports, non-governmental organisations and verified social media content.
The organisation called on policymakers and the international community to adopt a broader understanding of Nigeria's security crisis, arguing that any strategy aimed at ending the violence should take into account all the factors identified by its research, including what it described as the religious dimensions of the conflict.
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