The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been ranked as the 10th deadliest terror group in the world.
IPOB is a separatist group proscribed and declared a terrorist organisation in 2017 by the federal government.
In the 2023 global terrorism index (GTI) ranking, IPOB is said to be responsible for 40 attacks and 57 deaths in 2022 – considered the group’s deadliest year.
In the GTI, published by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), an independent and non-profit think tank, the Islamic state topped the ranking with 1,045 deaths and 410 attacks.
Al- Shabaab ranked next with 784 deaths and 315 attacks while Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISK) recorded 498 deaths and 141 attacks; Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), 279 deaths and 77 attacks; Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), 233 deaths and 30 attacks.
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) ranked 6th with 219 deaths and 65 attacks followed by Boko Haram which is responsible for 204 deaths and 64 attacks.
The reports also showed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as recording 137 deaths and 90 attacks, followed by Islamic State – Sinai Province with 71 deaths and 27 attacks, and then IPOB as number 10th.
“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), designated as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government in 2017, recorded their deadliest year in 2022,” the report reads.
“They were responsible for 40 attacks and 57 deaths in 2022, an increase from 26 attacks and 34 deaths the year prior. IPOB is a separatist movement with many factions, many of which are seeking a peaceful succession from Nigeria.”
Despite the IPOB’s new designation, TheCable had reported how Nigeria is ranked eighth in the 2023 global report.
The ranking comes as progress after the country moved two places away from the sixth position it occupied in the 2022 ratings.
