The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Niger State has raised the alarm over what it described as the alleged “depopulation” of Christians in parts of the state following years of terrorist attacks, killings and displacement.
The allegation was made by Marcus Salka, Chairman of CAN’s Christian Statistics Committee in the state, while challenging what he described as misleading figures being circulated about the Christian population.
Salka said Christians account for about 45.7 per cent of Niger State’s population, insisting that the figure shows that they remain a significant part of the state’s population.
He said the committee was established by the Niger CAN chapter to put the record straight, particularly over claims on social media that Christians are too few to have significant political participation in the state.
“We are here to correct a wrong projection in some quarters, especially on the social media space and to set the records straight for future guidance,” Salka said.
He argued that the absence of large-scale Christian participation in politics should not be interpreted as evidence of a small Christian population.
Salka further alleged that insecurity had taken a heavy toll on Christian communities, particularly in some local government areas.
He listed Shiroro, Munya, Paikoro, Rafi, Wushishi and Magama among areas he said had been affected by attacks, killings and displacement.
According to him, the violence resulted in the death or relocation of many Christians and had consequently affected their population in the state.
“As at 2006, our population was well over fifty percent, but following the incessant insecurity in Christian dominated local government areas, majority of our people were killed, others relocated and this obviously was strategic to depopulate our people,” he alleged.
Nigeria’s 2006 census put Niger State’s population at 3,950,249, but religious affiliation was not included in the exercise.
Salka said the committee therefore relied on demographic estimates and other available data in arriving at its current projection.
He cited the Niger State Bureau of Statistics’ 2025 population projection of 7,478,417, comprising 3,790,197 males and 3,688,220 females.
The committee chairman said Christians are spread across both rural and urban communities, with significant concentrations among indigenous populations, particularly in the southern and western parts of the state.
He put the estimated Christian population at 45.7 per cent, while the other two religious groupings account for about 46.1 per cent and 8.2 per cent respectively.
Salka insisted that the figures were presented to counter what he described as attempts to wrongly portray Christians as an insignificant minority in the state.
“We cannot, and we will never keep quiet to allow those who do not know our population to project or assume figures for us for selfish interests,” he declared.
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