Nigeria Ranked 6th Most Terrorized Country in the World – Report

The latest edition of the Global Terrorism Index has ranked Nigeria as the sixth most terrorized nation on earth.

The report, which measures the impact of terrorism worldwide by tracking the number of incidents recorded each year, found that Nigeria recorded 565 terrorism-related deaths in 2024, a 6 percent increase from the previous year. This rise in terror-related fatalities comes despite a 37 percent decrease in attacks by various insurgent groups in the country.

The report also reveals that out of the 10 most terrorized countries, seven are in Africa, with five located in the West African sub-region or the Sahel.

Burkina Faso experienced the highest level of terrorism, with 1,532 deaths from 111 attacks. Although Pakistan recorded a significantly higher number of attacks—1,099—the death toll from these incidents stood at 1,081. Syria, a country still embroiled in civil war, ranked third in the global index, though the report noted that “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) attacks are excluded from the GTI as they occurred within the context of the Syrian Civil War.”

Other countries in the top 10 include Mali, Niger, Nigeria—all three from West Africa—Somalia, Israel, Afghanistan, and Cameroon.

“The Sahel is the most affected region globally, accounting for over half of all deaths from terrorism in 2024 and 19 percent of attacks worldwide. Five of the ten countries most impacted by terrorism are in the Sahel region,” the report stated.

The Sahel region is a transition zone between the humid Sudanian savannas to the south and the arid Sahara to the north.

The report attributes the high rate of terror activities in the Sahel to “weak governance, ethnic tensions, and ecological degradation,” which have been “worsened by transnational jihadist growth and geopolitical competition.”

For Nigeria, Africa’s third-richest country, the number of deaths is the highest recorded since 2020.

“While attacks in Nigeria decreased by 37 percent, deaths from terrorism continued to rise, increasing by 6 percent to 565 in 2024. This marks the highest death toll since 2020, driven by ongoing conflict between ISWA and Boko Haram,” the report observed.

Interestingly, while the frequency of attacks has reduced, Boko Haram—whose activities had significantly declined in recent years—has resurged, reclaiming its position as Nigeria’s deadliest terrorist group for the first time since 2019.

“In 2024, the group was responsible for 31 percent of deaths and nearly a quarter of all attacks in the country. Despite a decrease in attacks from 28 in 2023 to 22 in 2024, Boko Haram’s death toll rose by 18 percent to 175, the highest number since 2020,” the report noted.

Additionally, civilians were the most affected by these terrorist activities. While civilian deaths accounted for only 21 percent of terror-related fatalities in 2023, they surged to 62 percent in 2024.

In his New Year speech to Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu acknowledged the country’s security challenges, stating that his administration had worked silently to free captives from abductors.

“While we can’t beat our chest yet that we have solved all the security problems, we are working hard to ensure that we all have peace of mind in our homes, places of work, and on the roads,” he said.