The armed forces numbered 78,500 in 2002. The army had 62,000 personnel armed with 200 main battle tanks and 100 Scorpion tanks. The navy, with a total strength of 7,000, possessed one frigate and eight patrol and coastal combatants. The air force, composed of 9,500 personnel, had 86 combat aircraft and 16 armed helicopters.
Paramilitary forces included 2,000 port security police, a coast guard, and a security and civil defense corps of 80,000. Nigeria has observers and peacekeeping forces stationed in Croatia, the DROC, Eritrea/Ethiopia, Iraq/Kuwait, Sierra Leone, and Western Sahara. Nigeria spent $374.9 million on defense in 2001 or 1% of GDP.