Nigeria’s GTI Ranking as Another Wake-up Call

Instead of dismissing the recently released Global Terrorism Index (GTI), which ranks Nigeria as the sixth most affected by terrorism globally, the military should view it as a wake-up call, as well as an opportunity to intensify efforts and ensure that peace is restored in the country, Davidson Iriekpen writes 

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) recently dismissed the listing of Nigeria by Global Terrorism Index (GTI) as the sixth country most affected by terrorism in the world. Furiously describing the group as an ‘outsider,’ it declared the report as unreliable, insisting that it cannot be more credible than the first-hand accounts of the armed forces on counter-terrorism efforts.

GTI, an annual report by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of terrorism in 163 countries, covering 99.7% of the world’s population.

It had, in its report released on March 5, ranked Nigeria as the sixth in the 2025 Index, with a score of 7.658, moving up from eighth place in 2023 and 2024. According to the report, the country recorded 565 terrorism-related deaths in 2024, indicating an increase in fatalities over the previous two years.

“Globally, deaths from terrorism have declined by almost a third since the peak in 2015, with Iraq and Nigeria recording the largest decreases. Deaths in Nigeria peaked at 2,101 in 2014, before dropping to 392 in 2022, the lowest level since 2011. However, fatalities increased by 34 per cent in 2023 to 533, and further to 565 in 2024.”

The report further explained that IS-Sahel has expanded its reach beyond its primary area of operation in the Liptako-Gourma region, which spans the borders of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

It said in 2024, the group launched a series of attacks across several countries, including Nigeria (16 attacks), Niger (12 attacks), Mali (six attacks), and Burkina Faso (one attack).

The military, perhaps expecting commendation despite the country’s ongoing security challenges, saw the report as a critique of their efforts. This explains why the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, quickly dismissed the findings, asserting that military intelligence and first-hand reports from the Nigerian armed forces offer a more accurate picture than external assessments.

“Something is happening in my house, and I am the head of the house. Someone outside reports what is happening to me; who would be more correct? The head of the house or the outsider?” he argued, urging the media to rely on verified military reports rather than external data.

He noted that the Nigerian military would continue to push back against insurgents and criminal elements across the country while challenging narratives that undermine its counter-terrorism efforts.

Many Nigerians however view the military’s reaction as unhelpful. They wondered why the government and its agents would always accept favourable economic and security reports on Nigeria from the GTI, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Transparency International and other international bodies but when a report does not favour the country, they turn around to call the affected organisation an outside-body whose report should be rejected.

Insecurity has persisted over the years in Nigeria. Terrorist groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) frequently carry out deadly attacks, especially in the North-east. Bandits have also been raiding villages in the North-west and North-central, stealing livestock, and killing farmers and destroying their crops.

In the South-east and South-south regions, the story is the same, and this has exacerbated poverty and hunger across the country as most villages, farms and highways remain unsafe.

At the time the DHQ dismissed the GTI report, escalating security threats had led the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to withdraw corps members serving in Mbaa, a volatile community in the Kwande Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State. The violence has turned parts of the LGA into an epicentre of the crisis, with over 20 people killed. Among the victims were 16 farmers, whose bodies were dumped in River Katsina-Ala.

Herdsmen attacks reportedly claimed over 30 lives in Ondo, Benue and Nasarawa states last week, with Ondo State alone reportedly recording 20 deaths.

Currently, a former Director-General of the NYSC, Brig. Gen. Maharazu Tsiga (rtd) is in captivity having been abducted from his home in Tsiga village, Bakori LGA of Katsina State, since February 6, 2025. His abductors had demanded a ransom of N250 million.

A family member, Abdulahi Tsiga, revealed that while negotiations with the kidnappers had been completed and all terms agreed upon, the family was still awaiting the bandits to fulfil their part of the agreement.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) also last week expressed worry over the persisting insecurity and hardship across the country, saying the future of the nation remained bleak despite some recorded progress.

According to the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, over 200 Catholic priests and seminarians were kidnapped across 26 dioceses and archdioceses in Nigeria between 2015 and 2025, with many of them killed by their abductors.

Last week, Lakurawa terrorist group on a revenge mission over the killing of their leader, Maigemu, by a combined security operatives, killed 13 people in Birnin Dede community in Arewa LGA of Kebbi State. This was after herdsmen killed 20 farmers and razed four communities of Akure-North LGA of Ondo State. Fourteen corpses were recovered, according to media reports.

Herdsmen also reportedly invaded Eha-Amufu community in Isi-Uzo LGA of Enugu State, killing a university student and only child of his widowed mother, Donatus Ndubuisi, who was assisting his mother in the farm, sparking demonstrations by the women and youths of the area.

Though the military has recorded more successes under the present administration than under the President Muhammadu Buhari government, Nigerians are not yet sleeping with their two eyes closed as the country is still being terrorised heavily.

Recently, Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State raised the alarm that over 1,000 households had been displaced in a series of attacks on communities across the state from December 29, 2024 to date.

Last year, Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal raised the alarm on the level of insecurity in the state, saying the state was under siege and appealed to President Bola Tinubu to come to their rescue. 

Rather than denying and dismissing the GTI report, a preventive terrorism consultant and Chief Executive Officer of TRAZ Intelligence and Security Solutions Limited, Temitope Olodo, said Nigeria must urgently act to prevent further decline in security.

He recommended that the country’s security agencies introduce intelligence-led policing which would move from reactive to predictive security.

Olodo also advised that NFIU and government agencies should block all the channels and sources through which terrorists get funding and financing, and to always track ransom payments.

The security expert called for stronger border control to prevent Sahelian infiltration from Niger, Chad, and Mali. He called for the establishment of the presidential committee on internal security to constantly monitor and evaluate the country’s security and where it needs improvement.

Rather than dismissing the report, the military should see it as a wake-up call for them to double their efforts in ensuring that peace which the people can feel returns to Nigeria.