Military expenditures:
0.51% of GDP
(2018)
0.43% of GDP
(2017)
0.43% of GDP
(2016)
0.42% of GDP
(2015)
0.42% of GDP
(2014)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
147
[see also: Military expenditures country ranks ]
Military forces:
Nigerian Armed Forces: Army, Navy (includes Coast Guard), Air Force; Ministry of Interior: Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC, a paramilitary agency commissioned to assist the military in the management of threats to internal security, including attacks and natural disasters)
(2019)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription
(2012)
Maritime threats:
the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea as very high risk for piracy and armed robbery of ships; in 2018, 48 commercial vessels were boarded or attacked compared with 33 attacks in 2017; in 2018, 29 ships were boarded eight of which were underway, 12 were fired upon, and 78 crew members were abducted; Nigerian pirates have extended the range of their attacks to as far away as Cote d'Ivoire and as far as 170 nm offshore; the Maritime Administration of the US Department of Transportation has issued a Maritime Advisory (2019-010-Gulf of Guinea-Piracy/Armed Robbery/Kidnapping for Ransom) effective 19 July 2019, which states in part "Piracy, armed robbery, and kidnapping for ransom (KFR) continue to serve as significant threats to U.S. flagged vessels transiting or operating in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). ...According to the Office of Naval Intelligence’s “Weekly Piracy Reports” 72 reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea occurred in the GoG region this year as of July 9, 2019. Attacks, kidnappings for ransom (KFR), and boardings to steal valuables from the ships and crews are the most common types of incidents with approximately 75 percent of all incidents taking place off Nigeria. During the first six months of 2019, there were 15 kidnapping and 3 hijackings in the GoG."
