🇳🇬 Travel Insurance for Nigeria

Last updated: 26 August 2026

Quick Facts: Visa on arrival ended in May 2025 • Yellow fever and polio proof checked at the border • Overstay costs US$200 per day

The Airport Safety Valve Is Gone

Nigeria changed its entry system in 2025 and the change matters more than any single rule. The eVisa launched on 1 March 2025 and visa on arrival ended on 1 May 2025. Under the old system a traveller with an incomplete document could often sort it out at the airport. Under the new one, approval has to exist before you board, biometrics are captured at the port of entry, and officers verify the passport, the eVisa approval letter and your vaccination records together.

Two more pieces must be in place before you fly. Every passenger completes a digital landing card within 72 hours before arrival through the Nigeria Immigration Service portal, and Australian government advice notes a Health Declaration Form is required before entering, with possible temperature and travel-history screening on arrival.

The eVisa also constrains how you enter: it is valid at international airports — Lagos, Abuja, Kano — and not for arrival by sea. Check the current position on land borders before assuming one.

Vaccination Certificates Are an Entry Document, Not Health Advice

Australia's Smartraveller states flatly that you need a valid yellow fever certificate — the yellow book — to enter Nigeria. Some other sources describe it as required only from countries with transmission risk. The disagreement is academic in practice: Nigeria is itself a yellow fever country, the vaccine takes ten days to become valid, and arriving without the certificate can mean vaccination at the border at your own expense or refusal of entry.

Reporting since the 2025 reform also indicates polio vaccination proof is now checked alongside yellow fever. Carry both records in your hand luggage, never in a checked bag.

Here is the insurance point, and it is a hard one: none of this is insurable. Being denied boarding or refused entry over a missing yellow card is not a covered event on any standard travel policy. Neither is the overstay penalty, which now runs at US$200 per day with possible deportation and an entry ban of one to five years. The documents are your responsibility and no policy substitutes for them.

Healthcare and Why Evacuation Is the Real Cover

Private clinics in Lagos and Abuja are the usable option for visitors and they are expensive; public facilities are limited and rural care is very basic. For anything serious the realistic answer is evacuation — to South Africa, Europe or the Gulf — which means the evacuation limit on your policy, not the medical limit, is the number that decides whether you are actually covered.

Cash matters here too. Cards are accepted at major hotels and little else, so a clinic will generally want payment at the time of treatment. Carry a physical reserve and call your insurer's assistance line before committing to a facility, so a guarantee of payment can be arranged rather than a reimbursement chased later.

Malaria Is Not a Rural Problem Here

Malaria is endemic throughout Nigeria including Lagos and Abuja, which is where business visitors spend their entire trip assuming a city is safe. Prophylaxis is advised for all visitors, not only those going upcountry — Malarone, doxycycline or mefloquine, started before arrival. Dengue is also present, and cholera outbreaks occur where sanitation is poor.

Malaria is the single most likely reason a visitor to Nigeria needs a doctor, and it is an ordinary medical claim — which is a reason to have outpatient cover rather than a hospital-only policy.

Security and What It Does to Your Policy

Risk in Nigeria is highly regional. The northeast, including Borno and Adamawa, and parts of the Niger Delta carry substantially higher risk than Lagos or Abuja, and piracy and kidnapping are a documented threat in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.

This is not just a safety note. Travelling to an area your own government advises against invalidates most travel policies outright, so check your foreign ministry's current advice for the specific states on your itinerary — not for "Nigeria" as a whole — before you buy, and again before you go.

What Cover to Look For

Medical evacuation as the headline benefit, with no exclusion for the regions you are visiting. Medical cover from $100,000 including outpatient treatment. An assistance provider that can issue a guarantee of payment, since cards are of limited use. Cover that names the specific states you will be in, given how regional the advisories are. Emergency number in Nigeria is 112, with 199 also used for fire and emergency services.

Recommended Providers for Nigeria

EKTA

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Compensair

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Klook

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Because hospitals in Nigeria commonly want payment before treatment, the payment model of your policy matters more than its headline limit. See SafetyWing vs Heymondo for reimbursement versus direct settlement.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, and no policy is checked at the border. What is checked is the eVisa approval, the digital landing card, the Health Declaration Form and your vaccination records — and none of those are things insurance can replace.

No. Visa on arrival ended on 1 May 2025, replaced by the eVisa system launched that March. Approval must exist before you board, and the old practice of resolving document problems at the airport no longer works.

Carry one regardless of your route. Australia's Smartraveller states a valid yellow fever certificate is needed to enter, Nigeria is itself a yellow fever country, and the vaccine takes ten days to become valid. Without the certificate you may be vaccinated at the border at your own cost or refused entry.

Reporting since the 2025 entry reform indicates polio proof is now checked alongside yellow fever at the port of entry. Carry both records in your hand luggage rather than a checked bag.

No. Denied boarding or refused entry over a missing vaccination certificate or an incomplete eVisa is not a covered event on standard policies, and neither is the overstay penalty, which runs at US$200 per day with possible deportation and a one to five year entry ban.

Yes. Malaria is endemic throughout Nigeria including Lagos and Abuja, so a city-only business trip is not a reason to skip prophylaxis. It is also the most likely reason a visitor needs a doctor, which is an argument for outpatient cover rather than a hospital-only policy.

Check your own government's advice for the specific states rather than for Nigeria as a whole. Travelling to an area your foreign ministry advises against invalidates most policies outright, and risk in Nigeria varies sharply by region.