The objective of this paper is to examine the socio-economic cost of insecurity on the populace in general and the nation’s economy in particular. This is because insecurity and its various multifaceted manifestations like bombings, kidnapping/hostage taking, destruction of life and property, creation of fear among others has become a hydra headed monster which security agents in Nigeria appear incapable of addressing. The study revealed that the insecurity challenge is detrimental to general well being of the people with its resultant effects in the area low quality of life, population displacement and even death, the destruction of business, properties and equipments, relocation and closing down of businesses. The study suggests that the Nigerian government and her security agencies should be pro-active in their responses, improve their intelligence gathering techniques and create more employment opportunities for the unemployed and equip and motivate her security forces better. The grievance theory will serve as our framework of analysis while documentary methods of analysis and content analysis will be used to generate and analyze data.