Nigeria has climbed to the 6th position in the 2025 Global Terrorism Assessment, scoring 7.658, a sharp rise from its 8th position in the 2023 and 2024 reports. The latest evaluation, released on March 5, 2025, highlights significant security challenges in the country, alongside a troubling increase in terrorism-linked fatalities.
Global Context and Rankings
Burkina Faso topped the list with the highest metric of 8.581, underscoring its struggle with escalating extremist violence. It was followed by Pakistan (8.374), Syria (8.006), Mali (7.907), and Niger (7.776), occupying the second to fifth positions, respectively.
Nigeria’s position reflects its deteriorating security situation, particularly in the northeast and parts of the northwest, where extremist groups continue to pose significant threats. Countries like Somalia (7.614), Israel (7.463), Afghanistan (7.262), and Cameroon (6.944) round out the top 10, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, and India also making the top 16.
Rising Fatalities and Regional Impact
The report documented 565 terrorism-related fatalities in Nigeria in 2024, marking a 34% increase compared to 533 deaths in 2023. This represents a worrying trend following years of progress in reducing casualties, which reached their lowest point of 392 in 2022.
Globally, terrorism-related deaths have declined by nearly a third since the peak in 2015, with Iraq and Nigeria showing some of the most significant long-term reductions. However, recent upticks in Nigeria signal a resurgence of violent activity, particularly by groups such as Boko Haram and IS-Sahel.
IS-Sahel’s Expanding Influence
IS-Sahel has emerged as a growing threat, expanding its operations beyond its stronghold in the Liptako-Gourma region—a tri-border area encompassing Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. In 2024, the group carried out 16 attacks in Nigeria, 12 in Niger, six in Mali, and one in Burkina Faso. Its operations have now extended into Algeria and Benin, further destabilizing West Africa.
Global Terrorism Trends
The 2025 report reveals that 66 countries experienced at least one terrorist incident in 2024, up from 58 the previous year. This marks the highest number of affected nations since 2018, highlighting the persistence of terrorism as a global challenge.
Notably, 45 countries reported an intensified impact of terrorism, while only 34 witnessed improvements. This is the first time in seven years that more nations experienced a worsening security situation than an improvement, indicating a shift in global terrorism dynamics.
The Sahel: A Global Epicenter
The Sahel region has now become the epicenter of global terrorism, accounting for 51% of all terrorism-related casualties in 2024—a nearly tenfold increase since 2019. In total, conflict-related deaths in the Sahel exceeded 25,000 for the first time in the report’s history, with 3,885 deaths directly attributed to terrorism.
The growing insecurity in the Sahel, coupled with IS-Sahel’s expansion and Nigeria’s worsening security landscape, paints a grim picture of the region’s future.
Conclusion
The 2025 Global Terrorism Assessment underscores the need for urgent international collaboration to address the escalating threat of terrorism. For Nigeria, the report serves as a wake-up call to intensify counterterrorism efforts, address the root causes of extremism, and strengthen regional security partnerships. Without decisive action, the growing threat could further destabilize not only Nigeria but the broader West African region.
Story by : Mercy Addai Turkson #ahotoronline.com
