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 record since 2009.

Incidents · 12 mo

3,412

Fatalities · 12 mo

11,968

Incidents · all-time

29,141

Fatalities · all-time

95,211

		Prominent incidents
Katsina	Critical	Kidnapping · Terrorism	133	564	984	5,284
Benue	Critical	Communal violence · Kidnapping	170	699	1,206	5,795
Kwara	Critical	Kidnapping · Communal violence	158	809	763	1,341
Zamfara	Critical	Terrorism · Kidnapping	163	1,185	940	8,391
Plateau	Critical	Communal violence · Kidnapping	298	1,751	1,151	7,725
Borno	Critical	Terrorism · Bombing	352	4,043	2,065	23,442
Cross River	High	Kidnapping · Communal violence	57	177	432	744
Sokoto	High	Kidnapping · Terrorism	82	204	438	3,470
Adamawa	High	Terrorism · Kidnapping	54	225	507	2,920
Kaduna	High	Kidnapping · Communal violence	137	270	1,887	8,169
Kebbi	High	Terrorism · Kidnapping	79	277	247	1,003
Niger	High	Kidnapping · Terrorism	104	337	1,057	2,621
Yobe	High	Terrorism · Bombing	53	479	423	2,574
Oyo	Elevated	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	147	50	680	530
Ogun	Elevated	Armed robbery · Other	87	53	1,288	1,133
Nasarawa	Elevated	Kidnapping · Communal violence	38	55	607	1,993
Imo	Elevated	Kidnapping · Terrorism	59	60	718	920
Bauchi	Elevated	Kidnapping · Other	60	61	459	673
Taraba	Elevated	Communal violence · Kidnapping	43	76	570	2,133
Lagos	Elevated	Armed robbery · Other	124	81	2,321	1,485
Kano	Elevated	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	84	81	788	1,343
Kogi	Elevated	Kidnapping · Communal violence	96	88	783	1,386
Ekiti	Moderate	Kidnapping · Other	40	11	502	267
Abia	Moderate	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	34	11	298	412
Ebonyi	Moderate	Communal violence · Other	22	11	274	695
Enugu	Moderate	Armed robbery · Other	34	19	395	503
Rivers	Moderate	Kidnapping · Other	60	21	969	1,741
Osun	Moderate	Armed robbery · Other	64	24	576	419
Delta	Moderate	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	107	42	777	808
Edo	Moderate	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	131	45	1,010	1,042
Ondo	Moderate	Kidnapping · Communal violence	107	45	723	554
Anambra	Moderate	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	47	45	615	836
FCT	Moderate	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	99	48	1,331	1,554
Akwa Ibom	Low	Kidnapping · Communal violence	42	1	366	327
Gombe	Low	Armed robbery · Other	15	3	212	317
Jigawa	Low	Armed robbery · Kidnapping	21	8	225	158
Bayelsa	Low	Kidnapping · Armed robbery	11	9	554	503

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: 28 June 2026.