With less than two months to the end of 2015, Nigeria has been listed as the world’s top terrorism state in the year under review, mainly due to the activities of Boko Haram, in the northern states of the country.
A report released during the week, titled, ‘Terrorism in 2015: the Numbers-Graphics,’ published in the United Arab Emirates’ respectable online newspaper, The National, revealed that, out of 29 countries listed on the chart, Nigeria led other nations with a total of 978 cases of death by country, from attacks that took place within the period under review. Coming a distant second was Iraq with 447 cases, while Pakistan followed with 235 cases. Egypt is fourth with 232 while Syria and Yemen clinched the fifth and sixth positions, respectively, with 222 and 217 cases.
A further breakdown of the statistics released showed that ISIS and Boko Haram accounted for most number of attacks involving civilian deaths, by group. “In countries where terrorism regularly strikes, Nigeria tops the list,” the report said.
Meanwhile, Boko Haram has overtaken ISIS as the world’s most deadly terrorist organisation, according to a new report. The report was published in the third edition of the Global Terrorism Index, produced by the Institute for Economic and Peace. The Nigerian-based terror group, also known as Islamic State’s West Africa Province, was responsible for 6,644 deaths in 2014.
In comparison, ISIS is believed to have killed 6,073 people in the same period. Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the group, also known as the Islamic State, in March of this year. ISIS has certainly sought – and achieved – global notoriety since it announced its creation of a caliphate across Syria and Iraq in June 2014.
It has its own media arm, which pumps out propaganda videos and messages to either inspire supporters or strike fear into those it regards as enemies with graphic footage glorifying executions and torture. It has also claimed responsibility for the most recent terror attacks in Paris and Egypt, where a plane containing 229 was downed.
Over the past year, Nigeria witnessed a 300 per cent rise in fatalities from terror acts to 7,512. This is the largest increase in terrorist-caused deaths ever recorded by any country, and is predominantly down to Boko Haram’s expansion.