Nigeria
is still ranked third among the countries in the world that have been worst hit
by terror attacks, according to the 2016 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) report.
The GTI
monitored and measured the impacts of terrorism in 163 countries, covering 99.7
per cent of the world’s population.
Nigeria
had occupied the same position in last year’s ranking, and was ranked fourth in
2014. For 2016, Nigeria ranked behind Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pakistan,
Syria, Yemen, Somalia and India are ranked fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and
eighth respectively, while Egypt and Libya are in the ninth and 10th position,
in the latest ranking.
The
report, released on Wednesday by the Institute for Economics and Peace, however
indicates a 34 per cent decline in the number of people killed by the terrorist
group, Boko Haram, in 2015 in Nigeria.
The
total number of people killed by Boko Haram in 2015 was 4,095, down from the
6,136 in 2014, said the report which attributed the decline to the operation of
the Nigerian military and the Joint Task Force in the north-east of the
country.
According
to the report, Nigeria also had a reduction in the number of people killed by
Fulani militants (herdsmen). “There were 630 fewer deaths by these militias in
2015, a decrease of 50 per cent,” the report said.
This,
according to the report, contributed to the overall 10 per cent drop in the
number of deaths caused by terrorism globally.
In fact,
the report says Iraq and Nigeria had the largest reduction on deaths from
terrorism from 2014 to 2015.
The
gains made against Boko Haram by the Nigerian military, however became the
pains of the country’s neighbours – Niger and Cameroon – as the terrorist group
spilled over and created more deaths in the two countries than previously
recorded.
“Niger
recorded a devastating year with 11 terrorism deaths in 2014 rising to 649 in
2015. This is the largest proportional increase of any country and is due to
the expansion of Boko Haram,” the report said.
Niger is
now 16th in the latest ranking, compared to the 51st position
it occupied in last year. The deteriorating terrorism attacks in Cameroon also
moved it from 20th position it was in 2015 to 14th in
2016.
ISIL,
the Islamic militant group in Iraq, has now overtaken Boko Haram as the
deadliest terrorist group in 2015, the report said.
The
report said, “Despite the decrease in deaths from terrorism, Nigeria still
experienced a high rate of violent deaths.
“In
addition to terrorism victims, there were at least 4,422 battle-related deaths
from the conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian Government in 2015, down
from 8,233 in 2014.”
The
report said on the average, Boko Haram killed 11 people per attack in Nigeria,
and that the attacks were mainly targeted at civilians.
“Four
out of five deaths from terrorism in Nigeria are civilians,” it said. “This is
one of the highest targeting of civilians anywhere in the world.
“Whilst
the majority of fatalities were caused by armed assaults with firearms and
knives, there has been an increase in the use of bombings and explosions, a
tactic Boko Haram has been increasingly using after receiving explosives
training from al-Shabaab.
“In
2013, Boko Haram conducted 35 bombings which killed 107 people. In 2015 there
were 156 bombings that killed 1,638. Nearly two thirds of the bombings in 2015
were suicide bombings, which on average killed ten people per attack,” the
report said.
Out of
20 most fatal terrorist attacks in the world in 2015, according to the report,
four occurred on the Nigerian soil, with Boko Haram being responsible for
three.
Fulani
militants were responsible for one – where 95 people were killed in a single
attack on March 15, 2015.
According
to the report, the worst terrorist attack in Nigeria occurred on September 13,
2015 when Boko Haram killed 160 villagers in Kukuwa-Gari village by gunfire or
drowning. A total of 174 people were killed in the attack, the report said.
The
report put the global economic impact of terrorism at US$89.6 billion in 2015.
Foreign
Direct Investments (FDI) to developing economies such as Nigeria is directly
affected by terrorist attacks, it said.
“Unlike
ISIL, Boko Haram does not have a sophisticated financing structure,” says the
report. “The primary revenue source for Boko Haram is kidnapping, ransom and
extortion.”
The
group is also said to rely on bank robberies, illegal mining, external
donations, and drugs for its income which is said to be up to $25 million,
annually.
The
report put the total number of people killed in Nigeria by Boko Haram at 17,097
since 2000.
The
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has obviously achieved some
successes in its war against terrorism, but the Boko Haram sect hasn’t been
defeated yet, as repeatedly claimed by the Nigerian authorities.
The
report explains the methodology used in developing the terrorism index.
“The GTI
ranks 163 countries based on four indicators weighted over five years.
“The GTI
score for a country in a given year is a based on a unique scoring system to
account for the relative impact of incidents in the year. The four factors
counted in each country’s yearly score, are:
- Total number of terrorist
incidents in a given year
- Total number of fatalities
caused by terrorists in a given year
- Total number of injuries
caused by terrorists in a given year
- A measure of the total
property damage from terrorist incidents in a given year.
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