IPOB Ranked World’s 10th Deadliest Terrorist Group

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been ranked as the 10th deadliest terrorist group in the world.

In the 2023 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) ranking, IPOB is said to be responsible for 40 attacks and 57 deaths in 2022 – considered the group’s deadliest year.

Afghanistan, for the fourth consecutive year, is the country most impacted by terrorism, followed by three African countries – Burkina Faso (second position), Somalia (third) and Mali (fourth). Syria is in the fifth position, while Pakistan is sixth, and Iraq, seventh.

Nigeria is now in the eighth position globally, among the countries that have been hard hit by terrorism in 2022, according to the report.

After Nigeria, Myanmar (Burma) comes next in the ninth position, while Nigeria’s neighbour, Niger Republic, is ranked 10th, among the countries hard hit by terrorism in 2022.

In the GTI, published by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), an independent and non-profit think tank, the Islamic state topped the ranking with 1,045 deaths and 410 attacks.

Al- Shabaab ranked next with 784 deaths and 315 attacks while Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISK) recorded 498 deaths and 141 attacks; Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), 279 deaths and 77 attacks; Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), 233 deaths and 30 attacks.

The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) ranked 6th with 219 deaths and 65 attacks followed by Boko Haram which is responsible for 204 deaths and 64 attacks.

The reports also showed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as recording 137 deaths and 90 attacks, followed by Islamic State – Sinai Province with 71 deaths and 27 attacks, and then IPOB as number 10th.

“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), designated as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government in 2017, recorded their deadliest year in 2022. They were responsible for 40 attacks and 57 deaths in 2022, an increase from 26 attacks and 34 deaths the year prior,” the report said.

Among the killings spearheaded by IPOB militants were those of an Army couple that were beheaded, different northerners in the South East and numerous security operatives.

IPOB is leading the agitation for the independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out of the Igbo speaking south-east region and some parts of South-south Nigeria.

The ranking comes as progress after Nigeria moved two places away from the sixth position it occupied in the 2022 ratings and was in the third position for more than three years before last year.