In 2018, there were 838 reported kidnapping cases in Nigeria. 140 cases were under investigation, while some 176 were charged to court.

As of 2023, South Africa had the highest kidnapping rate among the African countires. It had 9.57 kidnappings out of 100,000 inhabitants. Benin reported the second highest kidnapping rate. It is important to note that these statistics relfect reported crime however, not all crime is reported.

In 2019, 390 people were kidnapped in Nigeria in terrorist attacks. Several militant groups are active in the country, leading to attacks to both civil and military targets. Boko Haram is the deadliest terrorist group, an affiliate of the Islamic State. Among the news on attacks mostly present in the media, the kidnapping of 276 female students from a secondary school in Borno in 2014 received a global response. As of January 2021, 112 girls were still missing, and six students were believed to have died. Borno, the headquarter of Boko Haram, is by far the most affected state by terror-related deaths in Nigeria.

Nigeria NG: Intentional Homicides: per 100,000 People data was reported at 9.800 Ratio in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 10.700 Ratio for 2010. Nigeria NG: Intentional Homicides: per 100,000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 10.700 Ratio from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2015, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.800 Ratio in 2005 and a record low of 9.800 Ratio in 2015. Nigeria NG: Intentional Homicides: per 100,000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nigeria – Table NG.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; Weighted average;

Abstract

The Business Survey on Crime and Corruption was undertaken by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with EFCC. Technical guidance was provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as part of a larger International Crime and Corruption Business Survey (CCBS) programme geared towards collecting on a regular basis data and generating a set of indicators on the impact of crime and corruption on business and promotion of joint measures against them. It further aims to support the government in its efforts to combat economic and financial crimes as well as assess the perception of corruption and awareness of EFCC among the business community.

Geographic coverage

National Coverage

Analysis unit

Institutions/Organizations

Universe

All establishments employing 10 staff and above.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

In order to have a broad-based list of business and industrial establishments, three (3) sets of establishment frames were used. There are: (i) Frame of Establishments from Economic Survey and Census Division of NBS. (ii) Frame of Establishments from National Quick Employment Generation Survey (NQEGS) conducted by NBS in 2006. (iii) Frame of Establishments from NBS/CBN/NCC collaborative Economic Survey conducted by NBS in 2006.

These frames were merged to give a single cleaned and validated frame. The cleaning and validation of the frame involves the following: (i) Elimination of duplications (ii) Removing dead or moribund establishments from the frame (iii) Filling in missing information where feasible.

A sample of 2,775 were selected from a frame of 15,556 which cut across 14 sectors of the economy namely: (i) Agriculture (163) (ii) Fishing (10) (iii) Mining and Quarrying (75) (iv) Manufacturing (474) (v) Electricity, Gas and Water (66) (vi) Building and Construction (137) (vii) Wholesale and Retail Trade (450) (viii) Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism (155) (ix) Transport (200) (x) Communication (92) (xi) Financial Intermediation (233) (xii) Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities (480) (xiii) Public Administration (Government) (77) (xiv) Education (163)

In order to select the required number of establishments, some parameters were considered, which include: (i) Employment size, that is strata of 10 and above (ii) Contribution of sector to GDP. (iii) Purposive or prior knowledge of performance of sectors in the economy.

Selection Procedure: Basically, the sample design used for this survey was a two-level probability proportion to size (PPS) in which the contribution of each sector to the GDP formed the basis of allocation at the first level while the basis of allocation at the second level was number of establishments in each sector. A prior (purposive) allocation was also used to complement and boost the efficiency of the design.

Mode of data collection

Mail Questionnaire [mail]

Research instrument

The questionnaire was divided into ten (10) sections namely:

Section A which asked of the Name of Establishment, Address, Telephone Number, State, LGA and Type of Ownership Section B contained Instruction, Designation of the Respondent in Establishment and Gender. Section C asked questions on Type of Economic Activity, Number of Paid Employees, Capital Participation of Foreign Investors. Section D dealt with questions on type of crimes committed, reported or not reported to police Section E was based on questions on obstacles for doing good business in Nigeria, such as unofficial payments or gifts to public official to get things done Section F contained questions on anyone ever requesting for money in exchange for service to protect establishment from robbery, act of vandalism and so on Section G contained questions on the establishment experience on dispensation of justice. Section H contained questions on awareness of EFCC Section I contained questions on any kind of joint action taken against crime, corruption or extortion. Section J Contained questions on Name of Respondent, Telephone Number, Address and Willingness to participate in future interview of this nature

Cleaning operations

Data processing was done centrally at NBS Headquarters, Abuja. 30 Data entry staff and 15 Editors were engaged. Censuses and Surveys Program (CSPRO) was used for data entry. SPSS was used for final analysis.

Response rate

About an eighty-one percent response rate was achieved nationwide. On the zonal level, the south west zone achieved the highest response rate of 32.2 percent in the country.

Sampling error estimates

Sampling errors have been calculated for a select set of statistics (all of which are proportions due to the limitations of the Taylor linearization method) for the national sample, and for each of the sectors. For each statistic, the estimate, its standard error, the coefficient of variation (or relative error -- the ratio between the standard error and the estimate), the design effect, and the square root design effect (DEFT -- the ratio between the standard error using the given sample design and the standard error that would result if a simple random sample had been used), as well as the 95 percent confidence intervals (+/-2 standard errors).

Nigeria is the fifth country in sub-Saharan Africa at risk of genocide. Worldwide, Nigeria ranked 12th as of 2024. The risk percentage of mass killing stood at 3.2 percent, dropping from 7.9 percent in the preceding year. Many different forms of violence and conflicts are often ongoing in Nigeria, mainly in the North due to the rooted presence of Boko Haram. In addition, different armed groups are operating in the country, like those in the Niger Delta and South-East Zone. Nevertheless, the source does not consider violence caused by those running conflicts and separatist movements as criteria for mass killings. Despite the high number of deaths caused by terrorism, these groups do not act against a particular group of civilians. According to the source, Nigeria's high position in the ranking is determined by criteria which include its large population of over 200 million people, its high child mortality rate, the ongoing battle-related deaths, the country's history of mass killing, and its degree of ethnic fractionalization.

Nigeria: Violent crimes per 100,000 people: The latest value from is crimes per 100,000 people, unavailable from crimes per 100,000 people in . In comparison, the world average is 0.00 crimes per 100,000 people, based on data from countries. Historically, the average for Nigeria from to is crimes per 100,000 people. The minimum value, crimes per 100,000 people, was reached in while the maximum of crimes per 100,000 people was recorded in .

In 2024, South Africa ranked first in the crime index among African countries, with a score of 74.8 index points. Nigeria was the second most dangerous country on the continent, obtaining 66.7 points. The index evaluates the overall crime levels in a specific country. Several African countries scored between 60 and 80 points, indicating high crime levels. Escalating concerns: South Africans worry about crime and violence In 2024, South Africa had one of the highest proportions of respondents expressing concerns about crime and violence compared to other countries participating in an online study. Throughout the period examined, the percentage of participants worried about violence peaked at 67 percent in March 2023. The escalating levels of violent crime currently witnessed in the country has caused this significant rise in concerned respondents. South Africa's organized crime landscape In 2023, South Africa ranked the third highest in organized crime compared to its African counterparts. The continent's most prevalent organized criminal activity was human trafficking and financial crimes. Moreover, from a regional perspective, Southern African countries had the lowest organized crime rate.

In 2023, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had Africa's highest organized crime index in Africa, scoring 7.35 points. Nigeria ranked second with a total of 7.28 points. To follow, other African countries with significant criminality levels were South Africa, Kenya, Libya, and the Central African Republic. Main criminal markets in Africa Human trafficking is the main type of crime perpetrated in Africa. In 2022, over 21,700 human trafficking victims were identified in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most victims of trafficking in persons on the continent are girls and women, who are predominantly victims of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Other common forms of criminality in Africa are financial crimes, as well as arms trafficking, which include the illegal trade of unauthorized small arms, ammunition, and explosives. Terrorism across Africa In recent years, terrorism has spread at particularly high levels in some African countries. Nigeria, headquarter of the Boko Haram terrorist group, has been facing high levels of crime, violence, and poor national security, and ranked among the highest 10 countries in the global terrorism index in 2022. However, Nigeria and Niger have seen improvements between 2020 and 2022, with the hot spot area in the region moving more towards the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Furthermore, terrorism tends to have adverse effects on the economy. For example, the economic impact of terrorist acts between 2007 and 2019 in Nigeria amounted to around 142 billion U.S. dollars.

As of December 2023, Nigerians reported being most worried about being mugged or robbed. The level of concern about this stood at 69.93 points, on a scale from zero to 100, where 100 represents the highest concern. Some other crimes causing high levels of worry in the country were robbery, burglary, theft, and attacks.

In 2017, the largest number of crimes in Nigeria were recorded in Lagos State. In the said year, Lagos registered about 50 thousand crimes, by far the highest figure in the country. Abia followed with 12 thousand cases. In Lagos State, Nigeria's largest city is located, the homonym Lagos. The city is also the largest in whole Sub-Saharan Africa.

Evidence suggests that crimes committed in urban environments are geographically concentrated across a range of scales, and that the variation in rates of crime within an urban space is significantly dependent on the physical environment as well as the situation in which the crime takes place. However, these assertions are typically drawn from environmental criminological studies that have focussed on Euro-American cities and western intellectual perspectives. We seek to move beyond these by focussing on a second-tier city in sub-Saharan Africa (Kaduna, Nigeria), a context for which very little literature exists. The deposited dataset was used to examine the association between a range of street characteristics and the risk of residential burglary in Kaduna for the first time.

This mixed-methods research aims to bring together key development concerns related to sustainable livelihoods, social vulnerability, and poverty to build an alternative account of 'insecurity and crime' in African cities where the lines between legality and illegality, formality and informality, licit and illicit work, are often blurred in practice. We argue that the study of insecurity and crime in African cities requires a more nuanced understanding of African urbanisation patterns and historical legacies of uneven development. Situated at the nexus of population modelling, criminology, African studies, and urban geography, this project aims to challenge prevailing Euro-centric narratives of crime and victimisation through an innovative mixed-methods study. Combining statistical modelling, geovisualisation and ethnographic insights, the research aims to develop location appropriate approaches to investigate perceptions and seasonal trends of crime and victimisations in a West African city, situating the research within the broader context of African urbanisation, environment-induced seasonal migration, youth un-employment and informal economies.

About 135 thousand crimes were reported in Nigeria in the course of 2017. The largest number of cases were related to property crimes, which accounted for almost 70 thousand of the overall cases. More than 50 thousand reports concerned offences against persons.

In 2019, 285 males and four females were convicted in Nigeria for advance fee fraud. Moreover, 390 males and eight females were convicted for cyber-crimes. Overall, males represented the vast majority of individuals convicted in Nigeria for financial and economic crimes.

According to the organized crime index, arms trafficking and synthetic drug trade were the most common types of criminal market in Nigeria as of 2023, each with a score of 8.5 points. By extension, Western Africa has one of the highest levels of criminality in Africa.

According to a recent survey, men in Nigeria are more likely to pay a bribe to a public official or to be asked to pay a bribe by a public official. As of 2019, 35.2 percent of male respondents had paid a bribe in the last 12 months prior to the survey, whereas the share of women was around 24 percent. This represented a decrease for both men and women in the prevalence of bribery in Nigeria compared to 2016.

About 13 thousand crimes against lawful authority were reported in Nigeria in the course of 2017. The largest number of cases was related to breach of peace, which reached almost 10 thousand records. Gambling accounted for 471 cases, while the episodes of escape from custody were 123.

As of 2019, corruption in Nigeria was perceived to have increased by both male and female respondents. More specifically, 51 percent of males and 54 percent of females believed that corruption in Nigeria grew in the two years prior to the survey. On the other hand, 30 percent of male and 26 percent of female declared it decreased. Even if the perception of corruption is not a clear mirror of the actual status, the perceived trend can, among others, show the people's trust in public offices.

According to a recent survey, women in rural Nigeria are less likely to pay a bribe to a public official or to be asked to pay a bribe by a public official. As of 2019, 21.6 percent of female respondents in rural Nigeria paid a bribe in the last 12 months prior to the survey, whereas the share of men was 33 percent. Overall, the prevalence of bribery in urban areas of Nigeria is higher than in rural zones.

In 2019, 1.7 thousand males and 337 females were arrested in Nigeria for advance fee fraud. Moreover, 878 males and 73 females were arrested for cyber-crimes. Overall, males represented the vast majority of individuals arrested in Nigeria for financial and economic crimes.