TheCable

Nigeria has now been adjudged the least peaceful country in West Africa and the 11th least peaceful country in the world for 2015, ranking 151st of the 162 countries reviewed in the Global Peace Index (GPI).

In a recent study by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), it was gathered that Nigeria, like most of the world, became more violent in 2014 than it had been at anytime in the past decade.

In 2014, Nigeria was also the least peaceful country in West Africa, closely followed by Guinea Bissau, which ranked 144th in the world on the GPI.

Guinea Bissau improved to 120 on the index in 2015, while Nigeria maintained its spot at 151.

According to the study, published by Thomson Reuters foundation on Wednesday, the cost of violence around the world reached a record $14.3 trillion in 2014, equivalent to the combined economies of Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.

For Nigeria, the cost of violence peaked in 2014 to a whooping sum of N14.04trn ($70,551,273,870), a rough equivalent of the country’s three years budget.

The least peaceful country in the world, according to the study is Syria, with Libya suffering the most severe deterioration in the year under review.

The study listed the major factors responsible for deterioration of peace in Nigeria were listed as society and security, militarisation and domestic and international conflicts.

The cost of supporting refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) has increased by 267 percent since 2008 to $128 billion, as the numbers of uprooted people topped 50 million – the highest level since World War Two.

On the Terrorism impact index, Nigeria was only second to Iraq, as Iceland remained the most peaceful country in the world.