🇳🇬 Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nijeriya)
Visiting: Dangerous
Serious risks come with any visit to Nigeria. Same-sex relationships are criminalised and punishable by death, which places it 176th for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Homicide ranks 162nd and conflict 177th, both in the bottom twenty. Nothing ranks highly here: women's safety is fair, ranking 104th, and freedom is only partly protected, at 111th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Nigeria: 15.8
Ranked 19th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Sixteen killings per 100,000 people a year is well over the ten that marks the deadliest countries.
Is it safe to visit?
A real risk for a visitor. The UN's survey-based estimate is 35,884 killings in 2023 — nearly three times the world average rate.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Nigeria: 17.2
Ranked 57th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Seventeen deaths per 100,000 people a year is above the world average of fifteen, though well short of double it.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Above the world average — the WHO puts it at 36,722 deaths in a year, six times what Nigeria reported.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Nigeria: 4.86
Ranked 4th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
5,356 people died in fighting inside Nigeria in the year to July 2026, 1,663 of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe in the northeast, where Boko Haram and Islamic State attack, or the northwest, where bandit gangs kidnap en masse. Lagos, Abuja and the south sit apart from it.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Nigeria: 5.62
Ranked 70th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Nigeria the lowest are religion, movement and due process at 1. Total 10 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
A vibrant press, but journalists covering sensitive topics are arrested, and security forces engage in killings and torture. Insurgency, kidnapping and communal violence, above all in the Middle Belt, are the real danger.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Nigeria: Stoning
Ranked 5th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Federal law sets fourteen years for same-sex acts and even for attending a gay meeting, and twelve northern states apply sharia with death by stoning possible. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Mass arrests at private parties are routine and mob violence goes unpunished. One of the world's harshest environments.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Nigeria: 6.92
Ranked 77th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Half of women feel safe out alone at night and the courts rate fairly. Attacks on women were recorded across 2024, and partner violence is thirteen percent.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care in Nigeria.