Me- This white or red lady is
Ruth MacLean, (BRITISH CITIZEN) West Bureau Chief for New York Times and the brain behind the journalism harakiri and her yellow journalist colleague visual and photographer .
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INTERSOCIETY RESPONSE TO NEW YORK TIMES

What We Actually Told Ruth Maclean And Her New York Times And Where They Lied Against Us In Their Latest Report Following Their Dec 16, 2025 Interview With Our Leader On Systematic And Coordinated Attacks On Christians And Churches In Nigeria

-Intersociety

(Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria: Monday, January 19, 2026): The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) on Dec 16, 2025, played host to Ruth Maclean, West African Bureau Chief of the New York Times, USA; accompanied by a female Christian photographer from Kwara State and Dave Eleke of This Day Newspaper, Awka in Anambra State (a long-time friend of the Intersociety Boss). As approved by our Board, they were privately hosted by our Boss following the coinciding of the visit with the 2025 the off-office pre-Christmas season. Our Leader, Criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi, 56, is truly and proudly a successful, lawful and legitimate “Screwdriver and Wrenches Salesman” in Onitsha since the end of his apprenticeship in 1993 at the age of 24 (33 years ago); from where he rose to his current eminent academic, business and defence of religious freedom positions. He also unquestionably earned first and post graduate university degrees in Criminology and Security Studies and Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution.

We are therefore shocked and totally disappointed at the latest publication of the said New York Times concerning a perfidy of lies told against us in the report, dated Sunday, Jan 18, 2026. The lies injuriously credited to us in the referenced Jan 18, 2026 report were never part of the marathon interview that lasted for not less than three hours and its spilled over market photo shot session that lasted for another one hour. It must also be categorically stated that our “reports on massacre of Christians in Nigeria since 2009” are purely in line with international best practices under the UN and the AU Systems and have nothing to do with the person of Donald Trump and his arch-rival critics including possibly the New York Times. Our reports also have nothing to do “American politics of Republicans and Democrats” or the country’s politico-religious divisions along Gay Rights and Naturalists (exponents of “Order of Nature”) lines. “Lobbying” with borrowed public funds to cover the Christian massacre can never discredit our data and dampen us. Religious Freedom remains “First Freedom” in the world including Nigeria and its beneficiaries include Muslims and Christians; which is why we reported that “125,000 Christians and 60,000 Muslims were killed outside religious freedom and protection in Nigeria since 2009 and estimated 19,100 churches attacked including being burned down or destroyed”.

Life-Threatening Report Title Of The New York Times: Also, we are at loss as to why the New York Times mischievously linked their interview with us taken since Dec 16 to US Airstrikes that took place nine days after on Dec 25,2025; to the extent of framing it in its report headlines. We are very surprised as to the business the interview got to do with the US Airstrikes in Nigeria’s Sokoto which the Nigerian Government including and its Armed Forces and NSA publicly claimed joint responsibility and openly celebrated with US Government. We hereby place the world on notice that we are holding the New York Times and its referenced West African Bureau Chief vicariously liable and the Nigerian Government and its suspected state actor and non-state actor subservice actors directly liable should anything untoward happens to our leader and his beloved family as well as our offices in Onitsha, Enugu and Aguata.

Where New York Times Grossly Lied Against Us And Put Falsely Worded Into Our Mouth

1. New York Times erroneously used the word “I” instead of “We”: Our Leader informs that he allowed Ruth Maclean to visit his home on two conditions: knowledge of Dave Eleke to our leader and having met Ruth Maclean when she visited after ENDSARS killings-during which Ezu River body floating saga of Jan 2013 in Anambra State, specially investigated by Intersociety was also revisited; likewise, the Obigbo Nigerian Army massacre of Oct-Nov 2020, also specially investigated by intersociety.
2. New York Times lied when it falsely claimed that “our Board Chair admitted that he often does not verify his data”. On the contrary, he lucidly marshalled out during the intervie Intersociety’s data collection processes including “primary or directly generated and secondary or indirectly or third party generated”.

3.New Times also lied that we said that our data was mainly based on “secondary data” including “Nigerian media, Christian interest groups and Google searches”. Our Leader cited several documented cases of our direct data collection across the country especially in Southern Kaduna, Taraba, South-East, South-South, etc., where our field research assistants have been deployed over the years. Recent cases included Eha-Amufu and Ezeagu in Enugu State. We also told New York Times that we are led by a team of expert-volunteers and field research assistants who are also volunteers and that our works priceless and beyond monetary inducements because most of us are occupationally professionals that are conscientiously contented.

4. New York Times lied against us as there was never a moment during the interview where our leader compared himself, a man, with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, a woman. Instead, we advised Ruth Maclean to fly higher as a female journalist of international repute and emulate Amanpour of CNN who has globally transformed herself into an “institution” and resisted putting her journalistic integrity to disrepute or on the mud.

5.Contrary to New Times’ Ruth Maclean, we vividly explained how we established or identified religious identities of Christian victims and their places such as knowing the Christian populated areas especially across the North. We cited and mentioned to her some native Christian places in Kano, Southern Borno, Southern Kaduna, Southern Gombe, Kastina, Southern Kebbi, Kwara, etc. We also informed her that we particularize and choose topics of our reports; whether on general insecurity or religious insecurity and determine the identities and motives of the attackers and their group and material victims using credible media reports and other credible sources such as Christian communities and their leaders, Christian persecution watchdogs and eyewitnesses accounts. We reminded her that we are not media outfit but human rights trackers and monitors in Nigeria since 2009.

6. Contrary to New York Times report, we told Ruth Maclean that as human rights trackers and monitors, we cannot be at all incident or religious crime scenes and that we deploy our team of field volunteers where we can and rely on other reports where we cannot, clearly in line with international best practices. It is also established that most of the Christian Persecution watchdogs working on Nigeria have consistently restricted their reports to Middle Belt whereas through monitoring and tracking, ours cover greater part of Nigeria and the role of armed state actors like police and the military and other counterinsurgency establishments.
7. New Times lied to the effect that “many of Boko Haram victims are Muslims”. This is totally incorrect. Available statistics especially from 2009-2017, most victims of BH were found to be Christians including estimated 3000-4000 pastoral Igbo Christians living in the North and killed by Boko Haram.

By the Report of the Church of Brethren in Nigeria (June 2020), “8,600 of its members were killed by Boko Haram between 2014 and 2020 mainly in Borno, Yobe, Taraba and Adamawa; during which more than 300 of their Church districts were burned down or destroyed. Out of the 274 Chibok Girls abducted by Boko Haram in 2014, more than 200 were children church members of the Church of Brethren in Nigeria”.

8. Contrary to New York Times, we never said “many of the 24 abducted Kebbi School Girls were Christians”, but that we strongly suspected that some Christian girls were likely to be involved especially when the School is not an Islamic School, but a Government School and that the victim area: Danko/Wasagu Local Govt., is an indigenous Christian populated despite being an Emirate Council. We cited the UK Parliament religious freedom proceedings of June 5, 2025 that showed that the area had been under severe Islamic jihadist attacks including the April-May 2025 unreported killing of more than 60 Christians in the same area of the same Kebbi State.
9. New York Times lied unpardonably against us by claiming that we called “Fulanis animals who should be confined to one State”. She had asked to clarify why we opposed “Nigerian Government Fulani Pastoralist Cattle Ranching Settlements across the country and we replied that “if the Nigerian Government is sincere that the policy does not have jihadist intent that it should designate Niger State, Nigeria’s largest landmass State which is also agriculturally fertile and turn it into one of the Africa’s largest modern cattle and milk producing areas”.

People including researchers, journalists and prominent Christians can agree or disagree with our works or research findings as any Report or Research work without constructive and informed criticism is not worthy to be called one

10. Contrary to New York Times, we said 19, 100 churches were attacked including burned down or destroyed since 2009, and did not say “close to 20,000 churches”. We peripherally mentioned that 100,000 churches were likely to be in Nigeria as of 2021, out of which, estimated 19,100 had gone in the hands of Islamic Jihadists.

Intersociety Leaders:

Emeka Umeagbalasi
Criminologist and USA’s DoS-IVLP Fellow (June 2013)
Head, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Chidinma Evangeline Udegbunam, Esquire
Human Rights Lawyer/Head, Dept. of Campaign and Publicity
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Obiajunu Joy Igboeli, Esquire
Human Rights Lawyer/Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law Program

Comrade Samuel Kamanyaoku
Head, Field Data Collection and Documentation Department
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Digital Contacts:
Mobile/WhatsApp Lines: +2348100098016,
+2349130156872
Email: info@intersociety-ng.org, Website: https://intersociety-ng.org

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