Violent Extremism is a threat to peace, security, human rights and sustainable development. There is no region on earth that doesn’t experience one violence or the other.
Violent Extremism is beyond boundaries of any region. It is one of the reasons people migrate to another territory for safety.
Even though Violent Extremism cannot be justified, it is due to different narratives such as injustice, violation of human rights, lack of good governance and negligence of promised empowerment.
In Nigeria,
extremist groups have committed many atrocities especially in the northern part. One of such groups is “Boko Haram” — which launched an attack in 2009 to overthrow the government. According to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P), 35,000 people were killed by Boko Haram between 2009 – 2020.
Boko Haram uses different tactics to achieve its aim. Like raping, forced marriage, abduction, torture, recruitment of children as soldiers. In 2022, the United Nations confirmed that 307 children were violated in north-east Nigeria.
Nigeria is one of the countries that has the highest
terrorism threat in the world. According to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2023, Nigeria’s score is 8.065 – which is quite high.
Based on the number of Terrorism attacks, Nigeria is one of the least peaceful countries in the world; it ranks 144th according to the Global Peace Index 2023. Terrorism has increased insecurity level, loss of lives in Nigeria and displaced many.