Tracking Insecurity
Across Nigeria
NATracker (Nigeria Attack Tracker) is an automated intelligence tool that monitors, collects, and presents data on terrorist attacks, insurgent activities, bandit raids, and militant operations across Nigeria.
The project was created to fill a critical gap in accessible, real-time security data. While organizations like ACLED maintain excellent databases, NATracker provides a more immediate, continuously updated view by scanning news sources hourly.
Important: This tool is for research and awareness purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, data is collected from news reports which may contain inaccuracies, especially for developing situations. Always verify through the provided source links.
How It Works
Data Pipeline
- 1Cron Trigger: cron-job.org sends an HTTP POST request to our API every hour with a secure authentication header.
- 2AI Search: AI uses Google Search grounding to scan the web for recent attack reports from trusted news sources and analyst accounts.
- 3Data Extraction: The AI extracts structured data including location, group, casualties, date, and source links from each reported incident.
- 4Deduplication: Each incident is hashed using SHA-256 (based on date, state, town, and group) and also checked against existing records for fuzzy duplicates.
- 5Storage: New, unique incidents are stored in MongoDB Atlas with full metadata and source references.
Features
AI-Powered Collection
Uses AI with web search grounding to scan verified news sources, security reports, and field correspondents for the latest incident data.
Daily Updates
System runs every day to search for new incidents, ensuring near real-time coverage of developing security situations across Nigeria.
Deduplication Engine
Advanced SHA-256 hashing and fuzzy matching prevents duplicate entries even when the same incident is reported by multiple outlets with different wording.
Multiple Source Verification
Cross-references data across Premium Times, Sahara Reporters, Channels TV, Punch, HumAngle, Reuters, AFP, and trusted analyst accounts on X (Twitter).
Source Transparency
Every incident includes direct links to the original news articles and reports, enabling users to verify information and perform additional research.
Comprehensive Data
Each report captures the armed group responsible, exact location (state, LGA, town), casualty breakdown (killed, injured, kidnapped, displaced), and current status.