The 2023 Global Terrorism Index has listed the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra among the 20 deadliest terror groups in the world just as it notes that Nigeria has experienced a decline in terror activities having been ranked the eighth most terrorised country globally in 2022, dropping from its sixth position in 2021.
The report placed IPOB in the 10th position among the deadliest terror groups in the world, while Islamic State, operating around Iraq and Syria, was ranked top on the list.
According to the GTI report released recently, terrorist activities in the country had fallen to their lowest since 2011. Between 2017 and 2020, Nigeria ranked the fourth most terrorised country in the world and in 2016 and 2015, it ranked second. Afghanistan, for the fourth consecutive year, is the country most impacted by terrorism, followed by three African countries, namely, Burkina Faso (second position), Somalia (third) and Mali (fourth). Syria is in the fifth position, while Pakistan is sixth, and Iraq, seventh.
The insurgent activities of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have led to the death of thousands of Nigerians in the North-East region since 2009, but the groups were more restrained in 2022, the GTI further adds.
The report noted, “Deaths in Nigeria peaked in 2014 at 2,101 deaths before declining in five of the subsequent nine years.”
Deaths linked to terrorism in Nigeria dropped from 497 in 2021 to 385 in 2022.
The number of terrorist attacks also dropped from 214 in 2021 to 120, the lowest recorded since 2011.
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