Two United States humanitarian organisations-21st Century Wilberforce Initiative and Stefanus Foundation, have identified Boko Haram as the most lethal terrorist group in the world.
The organisations disclosed this to a group of journalists while speaking about the challenges faced by victims of terrorism in Nigeria.
According to the Executive Director of the Stefanus Foundation, Mark Lipdo, “Global Terrorism index shows that Boko Haram is the world’s most lethal terrorist group, followed by ISIS, while Al-Qaeda ranks third and the Fulani militants mostly in the middle belt rank 4th”.
The 2015 Global Terrorism Index, GTI, had ranked Nigeria as the third most terrorized country in the world up from the fourth position it occupied last year.
Out of the 162 countries of the world that have been worst hit by terrorist attacks, Nigeria, in the latest ranking, follows Iraq and Afghanistan, who were ranked first and second respectively.
The report ranked Pakistan and Syria as the fourth and fifth to complete the top five most terrorized countries.
Lipdo disclosed that 14.8 million Nigerians are directly hit by the crisis in the north east, adding that 1500 schools in the region have been closed, 611 teachers dead and 19,000 others displaced, with 950,000 children forced to stay out of schools, 2000 abducted and 10, 000 boys forced to join Boko Haram.
According to him, “14.8 million Nigerians from north-east are directly impacted by the crisis. Officially, there are 2.2 million Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs.
“Unofficially, there are five to seven million IDPs. Those in need of special assistance are 2.5 million, comprising children under the age of five, pregnant women and nursing mothers.”
Also speaking at the meeting, the Vice President of the 21st Wilberforce Initiative, Elijah Brown said Nigeria has the third-highest number of internally displaced persons, IDPs, in Africa and the seventh in the world.
He lamented the menace of herdsmen in the north central and called for quick intervention.
As at January this year, the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai had stated that the Nigerian Army has defeated Boko Haram, assuring that the army will remain vigilant to crush any form of insurgency.
“The North East operation is critical at this stage. The terrorists have been defeated; these criminals may rear their ugly heads through other means. We will continue to maintain vigilance,” the army chief stated.
