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Nigeria among the worst countries with deaths from terrorism
Activities of Fulani Herdsmen accounts for more death than Boko Haram in 2016.
According to the 2017 Global Terrorism Index, the number of deaths associated with terrorist acts in Nigeria was 1,832. This figure put Nigeria as the fourth country with the highest number of deaths resulting from terrorism.
The report also revealed that Nigeria experienced the largest improvement in the world, as the number of deaths in 2016 is fewer than 3,100 deaths recorded in 2015. This is primarily linked to about 80 percent reduction in people killed by Boko Haram in the North-East of Nigeria.
However, Nigeria is ranked third on the list of countries most impacted/affected by terrorism in 2016.
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Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria and Pakistan accounted for three quarters (75 percent) of the death toll resulting from terrorist attacks across the globe.
Asides Boko Haram, there are many other groups carrying out terrorist activities in the country. At present, the Fulani herdsmen/extremists were noted as the most dangerous terrorist group in Nigeria. In 2016, the group was responsible for more attacks and death than the Boko Haram, and the concentration of their activities is in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.
Between 2012 and 2016, the group was reported to be responsible for killings of over 2500 people in Nigeria.
These attacks are premised on the ongoing tension between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers throughout the region, and was exacerbated by land scarcity and desertification in the north of Nigeria.
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The Fulani are ethnic group spread across the West and Central Africa. Over 90 percent of the group are herders, who move around the Sahel deserts and Savannah of the Southern Nigeria to feed and water their folks.
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