From Magnus Eze, Abuja
The Federal Government has flaunted a recent global endorsement of its fight against terrorism, as contained in the 2017 Global Terrorism Index of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the rating has confirmed that the military is winning the anti-terrorism campaign, following frontal efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
Mohammed, in a statement in Abuja, yesterday, applauded the report which, according to him, indicates that the largest decrease in terrorism deaths globally occurred in Nigeria, where terrorism deaths attributed to Boko Haram fell by 80 per cent in 2016.
He said it was also encouraging that, for the third consecutive year, the total number of deaths was down with a 13 per cent Year-On-Year reduction compared with 2015, with four of the five countries most affected by terrorism – Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria – recording 33 per cent fewer deaths.
In the report, IEP Executive Chairman, Steve Killelea, said: “The decline of Boko Haram in Nigeria is having a positive ripple effect, with Cameroon, Chad and Niger collectively recording 75 per cent fewer deaths.
“Nigeria’s success in the fight against terrorism is a direct result of the leadership provided by president Buhari, who did not just provide the enabling environment for the Nigerian military to regain its lost glory in the fight against terrorism, but also rallied Nigeria’s neighbours to forge a wide, sub-regional front against Boko Haram.
“It is fitting, therefore, that the 2017 Global Terrorism Index acknowledges the success recorded by the Multinational Joint Task Force that has been exerting pressure on Boko Haram,” Mohammed said.
The minister congratulated the Nigerian military “for its patriotism and sacrifice, and noted that they have, once again, made the country a proud member of the comity of nations.