IPOB among 20 world’s deadliest terror groups – Report

The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is listed among the 20 deadliest terror groups in the world, even as the impact of terrorism has continued to decline in Nigeria, according to the 2023 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) report.

Nigeria is now in the eighth position globally, among the countries that have been hard hit by terrorism in 2022, according to the report. Nigeria had occupied the sixth position in last year’s report and was in the third position for more than three years before last year.

Afghanistan, for the fourth consecutive year, is the country most impacted by terrorism, followed by three African countries – Burkina Faso (second position), Somalia (third) and Mali (fourth).

Syria is in the fifth position, while Pakistan is sixth, and Iraq, seventh.

After Nigeria, Myanmar (Burma) comes next in the ninth position, while Nigeria’s neighbour, Niger Republic, is ranked 10th, among the countries hard hit by terrorism in 2022.

The GTI report, released on Tuesday, is in its 10th edition. It tracks terrorism incidents across the world.

It is produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace, an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank which is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

The GTI report placed IPOB in the 10th position among the deadliest terror groups in the world, while Islamic State, operating around Iraq and Syria, is top on the list.

Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), occupying a sixth position on the global scale, is ranked as the deadliest terror group in Nigeria, followed by Boko Haram, which is the seventh on the global scale.

“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), designated as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government in 2017, recorded their deadliest year in 2022. They were responsible for 40 attacks and 57 deaths in 2022, an increase from 26 attacks and 34 deaths the year prior,” the report said.

IPOB is leading the agitation for the independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out of the Igbo speaking south-east region and some parts of South-south Nigeria.

Last year’s GTI report attributed the increase in attacks on police and other security agencies in Nigeria to clashes between law enforcement and IPOB.

“Law enforcement, including police and prison officers overtook both military and civilians as the most targeted group of 2021. Attacks against police and prisons increased substantially from one recorded attack in 2020 to 75 in 2021, accounting for over a third of all attacks in Nigeria in 2021.

“This was largely driven by an increase in clashes between law enforcement and separatist groups, such as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).”

The IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu is detained in Abuja, accused of terrorism.