Nigeria Witnessed 662 Terror Attacks, 7, 512 Deaths in 2014 – GTI
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A 2015 Global Terrorism Index, GTI, has revealed that Nigeria is now the third most terror prone country in the world moving from fourth in 2014 to third in 2015 behind Iraq and Afghanistan, which ranked first and second out of 162 countries.
The report also stated that the West African country endured 662 terror attacks mainly by Boko Haram Islamists and Fulani herdsmen, with more than 7, 512 deaths during the same period.
In Africa, the other countries in the top ten of the GTI are Somalia and Libya, placed eighth and ninth, respectively.
The report states that, “Terrorist attacks are much more lethal in Nigeria than any other country.”
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In 2014, Nigeria experienced the biggest yearly deterioration in terrorism on record, the report said.
“There were 5,662 more people killed (in Nigeria) from terrorism in 2014 than in 2013, an increase of almost 300 per cent,” it says.
The report put the number of people killed in Nigeria by terrorist attack in 2014 at 6,118, compared to the 1,595 killed in 2013, thereby “Nigeria has moved from the country with the fifth highest levels of fatalities in 2013 to the second highest in 2014.”
In sum, Nigeria recorded 662 terrorist attacks in 2014, with 7,512 people killed, 2,246 injured and 1,512 properties destroyed.
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Also fingered in the deadly violence that has gripped Nigeria are the Fulani militants blamed for the death of as many as 1,229 people in the country in 2014, which is an incredible leap from 63 recorded in 2013.
The GTI noted that nine of the 20 most fatal terrorist attacks in the world in 2014 took place in Nigeria.
The report, released by the Institute for Economics and Peace, placed Nigeria’s Islamist terror group, Boko Haram ahead of the dreaded Islamic State, IS, to become the most deadly terrorist group in the world.
According to the report published by online newspaper, Premium Times, the Institute for Economics and Peace which conducted the GTI is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank with offices in Sydney, New York and Mexico City.
According to the 2015 GTI, Boko Haram in 2014 spread outside Nigeria to launch two deadly attacks in neighbouring Cameroon, killing 530 people, which until then, had no recorded death from terrorism between 2000 and 2013.
