UNREPORTED DEATH TOLL OF MUSLIMS IN NIGERIA 2021 – 2022 – MURIC

4th September, 2023

PRESS RELEASE

UNREPORTED DEATH TOLL OF MUSLIMS IN NIGERIA 2021 – 2022 – MURIC

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused a section of the media and its allies of continuously neglecting the increasing death toll of Nigeria Muslims but are quick to report fabricated number of dead Christians at the instance of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

It has come to our notice that majority of security related challenges being faced in Nigeria, most of which resulted in the death of Muslims especially when in large quantity are mostly unreported or at best under-reported, We at the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) have seen this as a ploy to portray Muslims as the perpetrators of these various crimes in Nigeria, ranging from terrorism, kidnapping, cattle rustlings, banditry, etc.

The Muslims have always been complacent, consoling themselves without making noise on various social media platforms whenever the unpleasant news of death of their brothers and sisters in Islam filter in. This is because Allah has emphasized to us through the Holy Quran that “All Souls Shall Taste Death” (Qur’an 3:185) whereas CAN is always quick at playing the victim card and its voice can be heard at the seventh heaven.

The social media and traditional news media also become awash with unprintable comments with the aim of escalating the incident beyond the real magnitude. The Muslims are therefore always at the receiving end whereas as a matter of fact it is the Muslims who lose the highest number of victims of the security challenge which Nigeria is currently facing.

It is a known fact that the majority of the act of terrorism by the dreaded terrorist organization in Nigeria (Boko Haram) has led to the death of more Muslims than Christians, the terrorist group detonated bombs at metropolitan areas in the northern part of Nigeria where the Muslims have the highest population. It is therefore only logical to say that the terrorist group targets Muslims more than the Christians thus any Christian who become a victim is more of a collateral damage because the real targets are the Muslims.

In an effort to set the records straight, MURIC has carried out a statistical analysis of violent attacks and have gathered data of Muslims who were casualties of various attcks carried out by armed groups such as Boko Haram, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), armed bandits, herdsmen and the so-called unknown gunmen.

It was discovered that between year 2021 and 2022 the total number of Muslims who have become casualty is as high as two thousand, two hundred and sixty four (2,264). This figure is for reported cases, only Allah knows the exact number of thousands of unreported cases of Muslim deaths.

Of this figure, 1,829 were killed by Boko Haram, 288 Muslims fell victims of banditry, 98 were killed by unknown gunmen, 36 by herdsmen and 13 by IPOB.

We appeal to the Muslims populace not to seek vengeance as Allah is sufficient for us, and only Allah knows the punishment most suitable for perpetrators of the killings. We also remind co-country men to tread softly and not to insult the sensitivity and cool headedness of Nigerian Muslims, Our religion teaches “Peace” and on that mantra all our engagements are based.

Lastly, while we acknowledge the fact that efforts made by the security agents are already yielding results, we implore them to increase their vigilance in order to ensure a prosperous and peaceful nation.

Sodiq Mutairu

Special Assistant to the Executive Director on Data Collection