🇳🇬 Nigeria
Overview
Nigeria is a high-risk destination. You should reconsider non-essential travel. Several regions, including the North East Insurgency Zone and the North West and North Central Banditry Belt, shouldn't be visited at all.
The headline risk is kidnapping for ransom, which happens regularly across the whole country and is worse still in the north east, the north west, and on named highways such as the Abuja to Kaduna Highway (A2). On top of that: an active jihadist insurgency in the north east, armed banditry and mass abductions in the north west and north central states, kidnapping and militancy in the Niger Delta, dangerous roads, and a heavy year-round malaria burden.
In April 2026 the US State Department authorised the departure of non-emergency staff and families from the Embassy in Abuja, citing a deteriorating security situation. Canada advises against non-essential travel to all of Nigeria, including Abuja.
Five things to plan around
- Kidnapping. Foreign workers, dual nationals visiting family, and road travellers are all targeted. Vary your routine, keep travel plans private, and take professional security advice for anything outside the main cities.
- Roads. Do not travel by road between cities after dark. Fly where you can. On the Abuja to Kaduna Highway (A2) route, take the train instead.
- The north east and the banditry belt. The North East Insurgency Zone and the North West and North Central Banditry Belt: do not go.
- Malaria. Present everywhere, all year, cities included. Take prescription antimalarial medicine for the whole trip.
- Yellow fever. You must carry the yellow certificate to enter, and Nigeria has real transmission, so the vaccine protects you as well as clearing immigration.
Personal Security & Public Safety
Crime, unrest, and the public-order risks that shape day-to-day safety.
Traveler Situations & Contexts
How risk shifts for solo travelers, nighttime transit, and public transport.
At night
Do not travel by road after dark, especially outside the major cities, because of armed banditry and kidnapping. The Nigerian government itself warns against night travel in North Central Nigeria. Plan journeys to finish well before dusk.
Off the main road
Intercity roads and rural routes have illegal checkpoints, armed hold-ups, and kidnap gangs, on top of low driving standards and a high fatality rate. The Abuja to Kaduna Highway (A2) and the Enugu to Awka to Onitsha expressway are named hotspots. Fly between cities where you can, or move in convoy with security.
Public transport
Shared taxis and informal buses are used for "one chance" robberies, where the whole vehicle is crewed by criminals. Use a booked car from a known operator or your hotel.
Solo woman travel
Solo women travellers face harassment and a raised risk of assault, with limited legal recourse. Avoid travelling alone after dark, use trusted drivers, and keep a low profile.
Big cities
In Lagos and Abuja, keep doors locked and windows up in traffic, watch for robbery at junctions and in "go slows", and be alert around ATMs and on arrival at the airport. Canada singles out Lagos and Calabar for a high degree of caution. Express kidnapping, a short abduction to empty your accounts at ATMs, occurs.
Remote areas
Few reliable emergency services and high banditry and kidnapping risk. Do not travel to remote areas without professional security advice and a communications plan.
Ratings for these appear once you pick a situational context in the sidebar.
Environmental & Natural Hazards
Weather extremes, seismic activity, and natural disaster exposure.
Flooding
Seasonal flooding along the Niger and Benue rivers is severe in the rainy season, roughly June to October, and has displaced very large numbers of people in recent years. Urban flooding hits Lagos and other cities, cutting roads and bridges. Building collapses also occur in the cities, often after heavy rain.
Extreme heat and Harmattan dust
The north is extremely hot for much of the year. From about December to February the Harmattan wind carries dense dust from the Sahara that cuts visibility, disrupts flights, and worsens breathing problems. Carry water, sun protection, and a dust mask if you have a respiratory condition.
Earthquakes
Seismic risk is negligible and is not a planning factor.
Named Regional Exceptions
Specific geographic areas where risks significantly deviate from the national baseline (3 active).
Kidnapping for ransom of oil workers, contractors, and visitors is common across Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states and the creeks and coastal waters off them, alongside armed robbery, cult and gang violence, and attacks on oil infrastructure. Piracy and armed attacks on vessels occur in the coastal waters and the wider Gulf of Guinea. Do not travel on the rivers or offshore without professional maritime security. Port Harcourt city is a partial exception but still carries real risk.
Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa run an active insurgency across Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Gombe states: bombings, raids on towns, attacks on security forces, and mass abductions of students, aid workers, and travellers. Military operations are ongoing, with restricted movement, checkpoints, and curfews. A kidnapping here can mean years in captivity or death.
The US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia all advise against all travel to these states.
Armed gangs, locally called bandits, carry out mass kidnappings for ransom from highways, farms, schools, and whole villages across Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Niger, and Plateau states. This is currently the most active kidnapping region in Nigeria. Plateau and southern Kaduna also see recurring communal and sectarian violence.
The FCDO advises against all travel to Katsina and Zamfara and against all but essential travel to Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa, Niger, and Plateau. The US and Canada both advise against all travel to the whole belt.
This is the main road between the capital and Kaduna, and it has a sustained record of armed hold-ups and mass kidnappings. The FCDO names it specifically as a hotspot. Take the train, or fly. Do not drive it, and never at night.
Health, Disease & Entry Requirements
Strict tripartite separation: endemic disease threats, recommended travel vaccines, and legally mandatory entry certificates.
Health-care quality is inconsistent and serious cases often need evacuation. Carry comprehensive insurance that explicitly covers medical evacuation.
Malaria
Malaria is present in every part of Nigeria, all year, including Lagos and Abuja. Drug resistance is a concern, and it is one of the country's leading causes of death. The CDC advises every traveller to take prescription antimalarial medicine (atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine, or tafenoquine) for the whole trip, plus repellent and a treated bed net. RKI's own surveillance of malaria cases returning to Germany names Nigeria as the single most common country of exposure. Treat any fever within three months of the trip as possible malaria until a test says otherwise.
Yellow fever
Nigeria is in the yellow fever endemic zone and has had recurring outbreaks since 2017, unlike destinations where the certificate rule exists only to keep the disease out. In Nigeria the vaccine both protects you and clears immigration.
Food and water illness
Typhoid and hepatitis A are both endemic, and active cholera transmission is widespread. Drink only sealed or properly treated water, avoid ice, and eat food that is freshly cooked and served hot.
Rabies
Dogs infected with rabies are common, and rabies immunoglobulin is frequently unavailable in Nigeria, which may force an evacuation after a bite. Consider pre-exposure vaccination, especially for longer stays or rural travel. After any bite or scratch: wash the wound for 15 minutes and get to medical care at once.
Other endemic diseases
Lassa fever is endemic, spread through contact with food or surfaces contaminated by infected rats, with outbreaks most years; there is no vaccine, so keep food covered and stored in rodent-proof containers. Nigeria's north lies in the African meningitis belt, and the CDC recommends the ACWY vaccine for travel there in the dry season, roughly December to June. Dengue and chikungunya circulate and are under-reported; Zika is present in the region at a low level. Bite avoidance covers all of these.
Vaccination advice and legal entry rules are separate things.
Required to enter
A valid yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all travellers aged 9 months and older to enter Nigeria under the International Health Regulations, and it is checked on departure too. Infants under 9 months are exempt.
Recommended for everyone
Antimalarial tablets for the whole trip, hepatitis A, and typhoid, on top of the routine set: measles-mumps-rubella, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, polio with an adult booster for Nigeria, chickenpox, and seasonal flu.
Worth considering, depending on the trip
Rabies pre-exposure vaccination for longer stays, rural travel, cycling, or work with animals or children; meningococcal vaccination for northern Nigeria in the dry season, in line with German STIKO guidance for WHO-listed risk countries; and cholera vaccination for higher-risk travel such as aid or health work.
Endemic Disease Risks
Vector-borne and water-borne pathogens present in territory.
Recommended Vaccinations
Advised medical prophylaxis for general travelers.
Worth considering, depending on your trip.
Mandatory Entry Regulations
Legally enforced entry documentation required at border control.
How the government advisories compare
How the major government advisories compare, and where they genuinely disagree rather than just draw the boundary differently.
The US, UK, and Canadian governments broadly agree on how serious each part of Nigeria is; where they differ is exactly which states fall in the highest tier. The US State Department authorised the departure of non-emergency Embassy Abuja staff and families in April 2026, citing a deteriorating security situation, while keeping its headline advisory one notch below its most severe rating. The UK FCDO stops short of a blanket nationwide warning but places large parts of the country under its most serious advice. Canada advises against non-essential travel to all of Nigeria, including Abuja.
All three single out the North East Insurgency Zone and the North West and North Central Banditry Belt as places to avoid entirely, and all three treat kidnapping as a nationwide risk that is worse in those two areas: the FCDO says kidnaps "can happen anywhere in Nigeria" and are "particularly prevalent in the northwest," while Canada says they "occur regularly throughout Nigeria." Where they genuinely disagree is boundary detail, not severity: for example, the US lists Kano and Jigawa as places to avoid entirely, while the FCDO puts them one notch lower, at "all but essential travel." All three also flag road travel after dark and piracy in the Niger Delta and the wider Gulf of Guinea.
These are boundary conflicts, not disagreements about how bad a place is. Both claims are kept as separate evidence rather than averaged away.
Sources
Official advisories and health surveillance bodies consulted for this brief.
- UK FCDO travel advice Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
- Government of Canada Travel Advice and Advisories Global Affairs Canada
- CDC Travelers' Health U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Robert Koch-Institut
- WHO International travel and health World Health Organization
- U.S. State Department travel advisories U.S. Department of State
Last reviewed: Sep 11, 2026
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