By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
Nigeria’s security challenges deepened in 2025, with new data pointing to a sharp escalation in both the frequency of attacks and the number of lives lost to terrorism.
According to the Global Terrorism Index 2026, Nigeria climbed two spots to rank fourth globally, underscoring what it described as a “significant increase of terrorist activity in the country”.
“Terror attacks in Nigeria increased by 43 per cent this year, from 120 incidents in 2024 to 171 in 2025. Deaths from terrorism have continued to rise, increasing by 46 per cent to 750 in 2025. This marks the highest death toll since 2020,” the report stated.
The violence remains largely driven by entrenched extremist groups such as Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram, which together account for about 80 per cent of terrorism-related deaths in the country.
Their activities are still heavily concentrated in the North-East region. The report highlighted Borno State as the epicentre of the crisis, noting that the state recorded 67 per cent of all attacks and 72 per cent of fatalities in 2025.
“Terrorist activity this year was heavily concentrated in the northeastern state of Borno, which experienced 67 per cent of attacks and 72 per cent of deaths in 2025,” it read.
While some countries in sub-Saharan Africa recorded improvements, Nigeria moved in the opposite direction. “Five countries in the Sahel recorded falls in both the number of deaths and incidents from the previous year,” the report noted, adding that Nigeria was “the only country in the region to experience an increase in both categories”.
The upward trend has been building over time. The report observed that terrorism-related deaths have steadily risen since 2022, with 2025 recording 237 more fatalities than the previous year.
This surge has been attributed to a combination of ideological extremism and criminal violence. “Nigeria saw a dramatic increase in IS activity, with IS attacks jumping from 20 in 2024 to 92 in 2025,” the report added.
On the global stage, terrorism remains concentrated in a handful of countries. “Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Nigeria, Niger, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo… accounted for 70 per cent of global fatalities,” it stated.
Despite this, some countries recorded notable progress. Burkina Faso, for example, saw “fatalities falling by 686, or 45 per cent,” while Niger also posted a significant decline.
Nigeria, however, recorded the highest increase in deaths globally, with 237 additional fatalities in 2025.
The report concluded that despite years of counterterrorism efforts, Nigeria continues to feature among the world’s most affected nations. Alongside countries like Pakistan and Somalia, it “has consistently ranked among the ten most affected countries… highlighting the persistent challenges… in addressing terrorism”.
