OpenWatch API

Programmatic access to Nigeria's security incident database. Real-time data, trend analysis, and daily intelligence briefs.

API v1
Your access

The free tier needs no key: 20 requests/day, 30-day archive. For real-time data and the full archive, get an API key.

Get API access, $49/mo
Base URL
https://api.openwatch.ng

Plans & pricing

API access is its own plan: $49/mo for a key, 1,000 requests/day and a 365-day archive. Compare every tier on the site.

View all plans →

Authentication

The free tier requires no authentication. Simply make GET requests to any endpoint.

Paid tiers authenticate via API key in the Authorization header:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer ow_live_YOUR_KEY" \ https://api.openwatch.ng/incidents

Rate Limiting

Free: 20 requests/day per IP, last 30 days of data. API: 1,000 requests/day per key, last 365 days. Team: 5,000 requests/day per key, full archive. Pro (legacy): 500 requests/day per key, last 120 days. Enterprise: unlimited. All limits reset at midnight UTC.

Every response includes rate limit headers:

HeaderDescription
X-RateLimit-LimitMaximum requests per day
X-RateLimit-RemainingRequests remaining today
Retry-AfterSeconds until reset (only on 429)

When you exceed the limit, the API returns 429 Too Many Requests.

Endpoints

Incident Types

CodeType
KDNKidnapping
ARBArmed Robbery
TERTerrorism
BOMBombing
CMVCommunal Violence
PRTProtest
SCMScam / Fraud
ASNAssassination
CTRCattle Rustling
PIRPiracy
MSPMissing Person
OTHOther

Statuses

breakingdevelopingconfirmedarchivedretracted

Errors

StatusMeaning
200Success
401Invalid API key
404Resource not found
405Method not allowed (only GET supported)
429Rate limit exceeded
500Internal server error

Error Response

{ "error": "Rate limit exceeded", "limit": 20, "resets": "midnight UTC" }