The Institute for Economics and Peace, IEP, has retracted its earlier report ranking the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, 10th deadliest terror organization globally in 2022.
Dailygists reported that in a post on its Twitter handle, the global body headquartered in Sydney, Australia, had said that in 2022, about 40 attacks by the secessionist group caused 57 deaths and 16 injuries were recorded.
The report by the body indicated that terrorism-related attacks had reduced in Nigeria.
But in a press statement on Monday, updating the earlier 2022 terror report released on its website, the GTI withdrew the report.
It recognized IPOB as a pro-secessionist group based in the South East Nigeria seeking Biafra independence.
It pointed out that the group’s paramilitary wing, the Eastern Security Network, ESN, had been linked to different attacks which the group had not accepted responsibility for.
GTI emphasized on the need to differentiate between IPOB’s peaceful activities and alleged complicity in violent attacks.
According to the report: “The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a pro-Biafra secessionist movement based in Southeast Nigeria that aims to establish an independent state of Biafra.
“IPOB was proscribed as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government in 2017. In recent years, IPOB has been linked to several attacks, which have been attributed to its paramilitary wing, the Eastern Security Network (IPOB-ESN). The group has not claimed responsibility for any of these attacks.
“It is important therefore to differentiate between the peaceful activities of the group and its alleged involvement in violent activity.
“We have today updated the Global Terrorism Index 2023 to reflect this necessary clarification.
“Institute for Economics & Peace,”
The 2022 GTI reports show that the impact of terror has continued to reduce in Nigeria with total deaths decreasing by 23 per cent, reducing from 497 in 2021 to about 385 last year.
It similarly indicated that the number of terror attacks in the most populous black country in the world similarly fell considerably, with 120 incidents recorded last year relative to 214 in 2021. According to GTI, it’s the lowest number of terror-related onslaught and deaths since 2011.
The reoprt added that the military overtook law enforcement as the most targeted organization last year.
