Nigeria has been placed third on the 2020 Global Terrorism Index, a report that measures the impact of terrorism on countries across the world says.
The country was also ranked third by the index in 2019 having been battling terrorist group in the northern part of the country since 2009, when Jihadist group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria.
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According to the report, Nigeria recorded the second-largest reduction in deaths from terrorism in 2019, with the number falling from 2,043 to 1,245, a 39.1 per cent reduction, which was mostly because of a fall in terrorism deaths attributed to Fulani extremists.
‘This reduction occurred despite a small increase in deaths attributed to Boko Haram, which has been the most active terrorist group in the country over the past decade.’
‘Deaths from terrorism in Nigeria are now 83 per cent lower than at their peak in 2014.’
The report also added that ‘ISIL’s shift to sub-Saharan Africa meant that the region recorded the second-highest number of terrorism deaths, even after accounting for the substantial fall in Nigeria. Deaths attributed to ISIL affiliates in the region were recorded as far south as Mozambique and 41 per cent of all ISIL-related attacks in 2019 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa.’
It also added that: ‘Deaths from terrorism are now 59 per cent lower than their peak in 2014. The fall in deaths has been largest in Iraq, Syria and Nigeria.
‘Nigeria had the second largest fall in total deaths, owing largely to a 72 per cent reduction in fatalities attributed to Fulani extremists. Despite this decrease, the number of deaths attributed to Boko Haram increased by 25 per cent from 2018 to 2019. Renewed activity by Boko Haram in Nigeria and neighbouring countries, including Cameroon, Chad and Niger, remains a substantial threat to the region.’
‘The past decade has seen the largest surge in terrorist activity in the past fifty years. However, of the four deadliest groups in 2019 only Boko Haram, which operates in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, recorded an increase in the level of terrorism over the prior year.’
The 2020 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) also shows that deaths from terrorism fell for the fifth consecutive year since peaking in 2014. The number of deaths has now decreased by 59 per cent since 2014 to 13,826 globally. It also shows that over 96 per cent of deaths from terrorism in 2019 occurring in countries already in conflict. This affirms that conflict is the primary driver of terrorism,
The annual Global Terrorism Index, now in its eighth year, is developed by leading think tank the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) and provides the most comprehensive resource on global terrorism trends.
The largest decreases in deaths occurred in Afghanistan and Nigeria, however, they are still the only two countries to have experienced more than 1,000 deaths from terrorism. The fall in deaths was also reflected in country scores, with 103 improving compared to 35 that deteriorated.
This is the highest number of countries to record a year-on-year improvement since the inception of the index.
Despite the overall fall in the global impact of terrorism, it remains a significant and serious threat in many countries. There were 63 countries in 2019 that recorded at least one death from a terrorist attack, and the largest increase in terrorism occurred in Burkina Faso – where deaths rose by 590 per cent. Other countries to deteriorate substantially are Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Mali and Niger.
Finding also show that the ten countries with the highest impact from terrorism are: Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, India, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Philippines For the second year in a row South Asia is the region most impacted by terrorism, while Central America and the Caribbean region recorded the lowest impact MENA recorded the largest regional improvement in terrorism for the second consecutive year, recording the lowest number of deaths since 2003.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK