IPOB’s lawyer tasks Tinubu on herdsmen attacks
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Inter-Society) has raised the alarm over what it described as a systematic and violent campaign targeting Christians and ethnic communities in Nigeria, particularly in the South-East and the Middle Belt regions.
    
In a statement released yesterday in Owerri, the group’s Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, and head of Democracy and Governance, Chinwe Umeche, alleged that since the middle of 2015, suspected jihadist Fulani herdsmen have killed no fewer than 20,300 defenceless residents of the South-East and allegedly complicit federal security forces.
   
The group also claimed that nationwide, especially in the old Middle Belt states of Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna, approximately 19,000 churches and over 3,000 Christian schools and sacred learning centres have been destroyed, sacked or burnt beyond recognition.
   
The statement said: “Shocking statistics across the country’s six geopolitical regions have shown that an estimated 40 million indigenous Northern Christians have been uprooted since the July 2009 Boko Haram uprising. This displacement has escalated significantly since mid-2015 with the alleged takeover of state power and resources by radical elements within the Muslim Fulani population and their Hausa allies.”
  
The group alleged that these Christians have been forced to flee their ancestral lands to avoid being raped, abducted, murdered, or forcibly converted to radical Islamists. It added that many communities have been violently taken over, renamed, and transformed into settlements stocked with arms and cattle.

From January to April 2025 alone, Inter-Society claimed that between 1,500 and 2,000 Christians were killed in Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna. It said 800 to 1,000 more were likely abducted and taken to jihadist camps, while over 1,000 homes were also torched or destroyed.
  
In the South-East, the group reiterated that over 20,300 people had been “hacked to death or killed” since 2015 based on their ethnicity and faith, allegedly by jihadists and “federally deployed biased security forces.”
    
Inter-Society condemned what it described as the “gross inaction” of security agencies, accusing them of “deceitful post-crisis responses” and “discriminatory law enforcement” that fails to prevent the continuous attacks.

MEANWHILE, the Legal counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ifeanyi Ejiofor, yesterday, called on President Bola Tinubu to develop a decisive and coordinated approach to address the recurring violence involving suspected herders across parts of Nigeria.
   
Ejiofor made this appeal in a statement issued to journalists in Owerri while commenting on reported attacks on farming communities in various states.
    
He emphasised the need for immediate and strategic measures by the federal and state governments to protect lives and property, stressing that communities also have a role to play in ensuring their safety through lawful means.
   
Ejiofor said: “Nigeria is experiencing a troubling wave of violence affecting several regions, including Plateau, Benue, parts of Enugu, and Delta States. The human toll continues to rise, and the impact on affected communities is devastating.”