Trends in Terrorism Incidents in Nigeria and the United States: Analysis of Data from 1980–2013

It is imperative to evaluate past terrorism incidents so as to learn from historical facts in order to understand the current, and predict the future. This research aggregates data on international and domestic terrorism incidents from 1980 - 2013 in both the United States and Nigeria. This study further compared terrorist tactics, targets, and types of weapons and terrorist organizations that have perpetrated attacks in both countries during the 34 years period. Incidences of terrorism in both countries were compared using a paired t-test (two tailed test) to ascertain whether there is a significant difference in the amount of terrorism incidents that occurred in both countries. Also, autoregressive time series was used to explain and predict terrorism incidents in both countries. The study analyzed data mainly from the Global Terrorism Database and other scholarly literature using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Findings revealed that Nigeria continuously experienced more terrorism incidents in the most recent times than the US. However, on the average statistical analysis, results indicated no difference in the mean number of terrorism incidents that occurred in both countries. The outcome of this study will help to inform counterterrorism decisions and policies and provide opportunities for future research.