Nigeria has climbed to sixth place in the 2025 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), marking an increase from its previous eighth-place ranking in 2023 and 2024.
The report, released on 5 March 2025, assigned Nigeria a GTI score of 7.658, highlighting a rising impact of terrorism in the country.
Burkina Faso retained its position as the most terrorism-affected nation with a score of 8.581, followed by Pakistan (8.374), Syria (8.006), Mali (7.907), and Niger (7.776).
Nigeria was closely followed by Somalia (7.614), Israel (7.463), Afghanistan (7.262), and Cameroon (6.944), completing the top ten.
Rising Fatalities and IS-Sahel Expansion
The report recorded 565 terrorism-related deaths in Nigeria in 2024, marking a continued rise in fatalities over the past two years. While significantly lower than the peak of 2,101 deaths recorded in 2014, the trend has reversed in recent years, with fatalities rising from a low of 392 in 2022 to 533 in 2023 and 565 in 2024.
A significant contributor to this violence is Islamic State in the Sahel (IS-Sahel), a terror group operating in the Liptako-Gourma region, which spans Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
The report revealed that the group has extended its activities into Nigeria, Algeria, and Benin. In 2024 alone, IS-Sahel carried out 16 attacks in Nigeria, surpassing its operations in Niger (12 attacks), Mali (six attacks), and Burkina Faso (one attack).
Sahel Region Emerges as Global Terrorism Epicentre
The GTI highlighted the worsening security situation in the Sahel, now the global epicentre of terrorism.
The region accounted for 51 per cent of all terrorism-related deaths worldwide in 2024, recording over 25,000 conflict-related fatalities—the highest ever in the index’s history. Of these, 3,885 deaths were directly linked to terrorism.
Despite Burkina Faso maintaining its position as the most terrorism-affected country, the nation saw a decline in terrorist activities, with attacks decreasing by 57 per and fatalities reducing by 21 per cent in 2024.
However, the report warns that these security gains may be temporary, citing the case of Niger, which experienced a 94 per cent surge in terrorism-related deaths, reaching 930 fatalities in 2024—the largest increase globally.
The report also highlighted a broader trend of worsening security conditions worldwide. In 2024, 45 countries recorded an increased impact from terrorism, compared to 34 nations that showed improvements.
This marked the first time in seven years that more countries experienced security deterioration rather than progress.
Defence Headquarters Counters GTI Report
Reacting to the GTI findings, the Defence Headquarters insisted that reports from the Nigerian military provide a more accurate account of counter-terrorism efforts in the country than those from external sources.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, made this assertion on Thursday while responding to questions about the index.
Using a family analogy, he argued that official military reports should be regarded as more credible than external assessments.
“Something is happening in my house. I am the head of the house. I have children, I have a wife, and then Kuma Shi (someone else) is reporting what is happening in my house to me. Which one would be more correct? The one I tell you as the head of the house or the one Kuma Shi is reporting from outside?” he queried.
Kangye urged the media to ensure that misleading narratives about Nigeria’s security situation are corrected.
He added, “I’m not countering what they put out there, but as observers, you should be the ones to give the correct version of what is happening in Nigeria.”
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