According to a new report, over 5,000 Nigerian Christians will be killed by 2022. Over 3,000 others are kidnapped.

Intersociety, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, has released a report in response to some religious freedom activists who have stated that the persecution of Christians within the African nation should not be considered genocide.

The report states: “[Intersociety] dedicates this special investigation to the 1,041 victims who were killed and disappeared in Nigeria during the first 100 day of 2023 by the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen, and other Jihadists genocidal acts carried out throughout Nigeria.” The report states that “the under-listed slain victims and wounded victims represent also 5,068 other victims who were killed or made to disappear without traces by Nigerian Jihadists since 2022.”

Estimates were based upon reports from various sources, such as media reports, government reports and statistics from nongovernmental organizations, along with estimates by diplomats. In the report, it was also stated that more than 1,000 Christians would be killed by 2023.

According to The Christian Post, Intersociety stated that violence was most prevalent among the states of Benue Kaduna Plateau Taraba Niger Borno Yobe Adamawa Kebbi. The violence in the African nation has been a problem for a long time.

According to the report, some of the perpetrators were members of radical Islamic terrorist groups including Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram and ISAWP. The report states that the Nigerian military was also responsible for some killings. The government has been accused by many Nigerian Christians of encouraging violence and a long-standing demand from Nigerian Christians that it do more to stop these killings.

The report was written by Emeka Umeagbalasi and is critical of Christian leaders across the country. The report states that “the dry material pursuit and lackadaisical attitude of the Nigerian Christian leadership is also forcing Christian conversions to leave the church in droves, to embrace other non Christian denominations.” It must be warned, if extreme caution is not taken in order to save the Christendom or the Church in Nigeria, then the churches or buildings will look like the Turkish church monuments of today in 50 years or less.

This news comes only months after the Biden Administration removed Nigeria from a watchlist of countries that promote or allow religious violence for the second consecutive year. Religious liberty advocates were furious in December when the State Department left Nigeria off of its “Countries Of Particular Concern List,” a government list that monitors countries that support or allow religious violence.