Terrorism in Nigeria
The risk of terrorist attacks in Nigeria over the past years can be classified as extremely high. Worldwide this is one of the most dangerous countries with the most and devastating attacks. Over the past 5 years a total number of 2470 terrorist incidents has been recorded, in which 17751 people have been killed and 7345 injured. Among them were 318 suicide acts.In 372 incedents a total of 2811 people have been kidnapped or taken as hostage, though a ransom was rarely (55 times) extorted.
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Most frequent attack targets in Nigeria
(2013 to 2017)| Target | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private citizens | 1573 | 14,208 | 4,794 | 2,298 |
| Government | 211 | 555 | 146 | 82 |
| Police | 178 | 809 | 130 | 60 |
| Religious institutions | 128 | 828 | 912 | 16 |
| Business | 115 | 770 | 474 | 76 |
| Utilities | 91 | 3 | 12 | 2 |
| Military | 80 | 1,140 | 186 | 31 |
| Educational institution | 63 | 539 | 201 | 307 |
| Non-state militias | 52 | 481 | 155 | 203 |
| Transportation | 47 | 442 | 603 | 22 |
Most affected regions
(2013 to 2017)| Region | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borno | 981 | 10,044 | 3,275 | 1,901 |
| Benue | 205 | 1,164 | 110 | 26 |
| Adamawa | 161 | 1,247 | 603 | 196 |
| Plateau | 123 | 808 | 290 | 2 |
| Yobe | 122 | 1,233 | 668 | 284 |
| Kaduna | 115 | 713 | 211 | 14 |
| Delta | 96 | 49 | 54 | 25 |
| Rivers | 65 | 76 | 54 | 39 |
| Bayelsa | 56 | 44 | 24 | 37 |
| Kano | 52 | 349 | 665 | 1 |
| Nasarawa | 51 | 219 | 68 | 3 |
| Gombe | 50 | 264 | 218 | 0 |
| Taraba | 50 | 383 | 348 | 5 |
| Bauchi | 36 | 73 | 139 | 11 |
| Kogi | 33 | 49 | 0 | 13 |
| Lagos | 33 | 89 | 20 | 43 |
| Zamfara | 30 | 462 | 86 | 54 |
| Edo | 28 | 16 | 24 | 28 |
| Abuja | 24 | 160 | 289 | 15 |
| Katsina | 17 | 103 | 26 | 0 |
Terrorist organisations in Nigeria
| Organisation | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boko Haram | 1362 | 13,650 | 5,942 | 2,416 |
| Fulani extremists | 218 | 1,116 | 184 | 59 |
| Ijaw extremists | 13 | 64 | 0 | 8 |
| Bachama extremists | 4 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Muslim extremists | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tarok Militia | 2 | 28 | 6 | 0 |
| Urhobo Gbagbako | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Niger Delta extremists | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tiv Militia | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Egbesu Water Lions | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Scorpion | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
All information sourced from the "National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism" (START) and its Global Terrorism Database. An act of terrorism is concidered every incident which is aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal, but not for pure profit motives. In addition these incidents must not be legitimized by warfare activities, listet in the Geneva Conventions of 1949.