Risk Index

Nigeria State Security Risk Index

Every state and the Federal Capital Territory, ranked by reported security incidents and fatalities from OpenWatch’s live record. The risk tier reflects the last 12 months; the table also shows the full historical record.

Incidents · 12 mo

5,317

Fatalities · 12 mo

14,285

Incidents · all-time

31,509

Fatalities · all-time

99,692

		Trend30d	Prominent incidents
Niger	Critical	▲	Kidnapping · Terrorism	192	592	1,169	2,983
Katsina	Critical	▼	Kidnapping · Terrorism	203	696	1,068	5,674
Benue	Critical	▼	Communal violence · Kidnapping	255	896	1,321	6,310
Kwara	Critical	—	Kidnapping · Communal violence	197	914	820	1,452
Zamfara	Critical	—	Terrorism · Kidnapping	265	1,434	1,055	8,978
Plateau	Critical	▲	Communal violence · Kidnapping	495	1,829	1,388	8,179
Borno	Critical	▲	Terrorism · Bombing	524	4,558	2,265	24,187
Cross River	High	—	Kidnapping · Communal violence	84	185	460	752
Adamawa	High	▲	Terrorism · Kidnapping	86	238	542	2,940
Kebbi	High	—	Terrorism · Kidnapping	110	340	284	1,077
Kaduna	High	▲	Kidnapping · Communal violence	177	366	1,944	8,538
Sokoto	High	—	Terrorism · Kidnapping	158	443	522	3,754
Yobe	High	▼	Terrorism · Bombing	85	486	462	2,598
Ondo	Elevated	▲	Kidnapping · Communal violence	146	58	775	576
Osun	Elevated	▲	Armed robbery · Communal violence	140	60	653	455
Edo	Elevated	▲	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	170	61	1,074	1,070
Ogun	Elevated	▲	Armed robbery · Kidnapping	142	62	1,350	1,143
Nasarawa	Elevated	▼	Kidnapping · Communal violence	66	64	640	2,005
Oyo	Elevated	—	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	197	68	734	551
Imo	Elevated	—	Kidnapping · Terrorism	90	69	753	934
Anambra	Elevated	▲	Kidnapping · Terrorism	98	81	671	882
Bauchi	Elevated	—	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	112	82	516	721
Kano	Elevated	▲	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	130	96	848	1,373
Lagos	Elevated	▲	Armed robbery · Scam/fraud	217	103	2,451	1,512
Taraba	Elevated	▼	Communal violence · Kidnapping	70	111	600	2,173
Kogi	Elevated	—	Kidnapping · Communal violence	129	138	837	1,453
Ekiti	Moderate	▲	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	59	11	530	270
Bayelsa	Moderate	—	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	23	12	580	513
Ebonyi	Moderate	▲	Communal violence · Kidnapping	36	16	289	700
Abia	Moderate	—	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	51	20	320	422
Jigawa	Moderate	▲	Armed robbery · Kidnapping	45	20	254	175
Enugu	Moderate	▲	Armed robbery · Kidnapping	63	26	429	510
FCT	Moderate	—	Armed robbery · Kidnapping	135	44	1,400	1,575
Rivers	Moderate	▼	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	109	46	1,036	1,780
Delta	Moderate	▲	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	150	47	837	823
Akwa Ibom	Low	▲	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	73	4	400	331
Gombe	Low	▲	Armed robbery · Communal violence	35	9	232	323

Tier by fatalities (12 mo):CriticalHighElevatedModerateLow

How this is built

Each state’s tier is set by the number of reported fatalities in the trailing 12 months: Critical (500+), High (150+), Elevated (50+), Moderate (10+), or Low. Incident volume, which includes kidnappings, robberies and clashes that are not always lethal, is shown alongside but does not set the tier. That is deliberate: it keeps high-volume, lower-lethality urban states from being ranked above the lethal banditry and insurgency zones.

Counts come from OpenWatch’s incident record, excluding retracted reports, and update hourly. Reported figures are a floor, not a census: incidents in remote areas are routinely under-reported, so a low count is not a guarantee of safety. Last incident recorded: 27 August 2026.