Tobias Sylvester
According to the 2018 Global Terrorism Index, which measures the impact of terrorism across the world, Nigeria is the third-most terrorized country in the world, despite a 16% drop in terror-related deaths rate.
The report which was released on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, says total terror-related deaths in Nigeria reduced from 1,832 in 2016 to 1,532 in 2017. 852 people were also injured in terror-related activities with 411 incidents recorded.
The fall in the rate of terror-related deaths is the same across the world like Iraq, Nigeria and Pakistan have witnessed a significant drop since the peak of terrorist activities in 2014.
“When compared to the peak of terrorist deaths in 2014, the largest falls in the number of deaths occurred in Iraq, Nigeria, and Pakistan, with falls of 6,466, 5,950, and 912 deaths respectively. Deaths from terrorism decreased by 27 per cent from 2016 to 2017. There were 18,814 deaths in 2017.”
The terrorist activities recorded in the report captures attacks carried out by a terrorist group, Boko Haram, Fulani extremists, Bachama extremists, and others.
“Terrorist activity in Nigeria is dominated by two groups: Boko Haram and Fulani extremists.”
Fulani extremists were noted to have been less active in 2017 than they were in 2016 with terrorism deaths dropping by 60% to 321, and attacks dropping by 51% to 72. However, preliminary report of the group’s activities in 2018 indicates a sharp rise with nearly 1,700 violent deaths attributed to the Fulani ethnic militia from January to September 2018.
While little-known Bachama extremists were responsible for four attacks and 30 deaths in 2017, Boko Haram and Fulani extremists were credited with carrying out 63% of terror attacks and 88% of terror-related deaths in Nigeria.
Globally, since peaking in 2014, terror-related deaths have fallen by 44%. Iraq and Afghanistan remain the two most-impacted by terror-related deaths across the world.
“Deaths from terrorism fell for the third consecutive year, after peaking in 2014. The total number of deaths fell by 27% between 2016 and 2017, with the largest falls occurring in Iraq and Syria.”
The 2018 Global Terrorism Index also reported that Boko Haram has killed 1,254 people in 272 attacks in 2017, due to the increased activity of the terrorist group in Nigeria, and neighboring countries, after ‘a significant fall in activity between 2014 and 2016’. Read the report HERE.
