Nigeria is throwing all arsenals at conquering the Boko Haram scourge, and other forms of extremism, but the latest report from the 2019 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) shows that the country is the third most terrorism impacted country in the world.
Africa’s largest democracy follows Iraq and Afghanistan, which are ranked as the world’s hottest terrorism spots. Nigeria has been struggling with extremist insurgency and religious violence particularly in the North-Eastern part of the country since 2009.
The Nigeria has maintained the third spot since 2015.
The report published by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace listed other countries in the top to include Syria, Pakistan, Somalia and India. Yemen, Philippines and the Democratic Republic complete the list.
These ten countries accounted for 87 per cent of deaths from terrorism in 2018. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country recorded 13 per cent.
Although the number of global terrorism-related deaths declined for the fourth consecutive year, Nigeria and Afghanistan witnessed an upsurge.
The surge in Nigeria is contrary to the government’s claims that it has tamed the reign of terror in different parts of the country
“The increase in deaths was the result of the intensification of the conflict between pastoralists and the nomadic Fulani people, with deaths attributed to extremist Fulani elements increasing by 261 per cent in a single year,” the GTI report said.
President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army general, who promised to halt the spread of Boko Haram insurgency was voted into power in 2015 even though he was an opposition candidate then.
While Buhari has overseen a measure of success in the fight against Boko Haram and its splinter group loyal to the Islamic State – Islamic State in West African Province – insurgents are still capable carrying of fatal attacks on military and civilian targets.
In the first eight months of 2019 alone, at least, 615 military officials were killed by Boko Haram, 2019 GTI shows.
However, the report indicates that deaths caused by Boko Haram dropped 42 per cent in 2018 compared to the previous year, “an 89 per cent decline from their peak in 2014.”
Moreover, the fatality rate of Boko Haram attacks has fallen from 15 deaths per attack to four in the past five years. This is consistent with the Nigerian government’s claims of having substantially degraded the insurgents.
“The position of the Nigerian government is that the Boko Haram terrorism has been degraded and defeated. The real Boko Haram we know is defeated,” the Nigerian government said in a statement on July 30.