At least 7,825 people were abducted in Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026, while 1,142 others were killed in 1,713 kidnapping and related incidents, according to a report by SBM Intelligence.
The report, titled The Capture of the Kidnap Economy, also found that victims and their families paid about N7.78 billion in ransom during the 12-month period.
Security experts have condemned the growing kidnap-for-ransom economy, warning that the billions paid to criminal groups are strengthening their ability to acquire weapons and sustain violent operations.
According to SBM Intelligence, the total ransom demanded by kidnappers fell from N48 billion to N22.9 billion during the period under review. However, actual ransom payments increased from N2.56 billion to N7.78 billion.
The increase pushed the ransom collection rate from 5.35 per cent to 34 per cent.
Boko Haram Took Majority of Ransom
SBM Intelligence attributed about 90 per cent of the ransom paid to the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad faction of Boko Haram, which reportedly collected N7 billion from just eight incidents.
Two major mass abductions accounted for almost the entire amount.
They included the reported payment of N5 billion for 416 people abducted from Ngoshe, Borno State, and N2 billion for 315 pupils and staff of St Mary’s School, Papiri, Niger State.
The report said mass abduction had become the most common operating method among kidnappers, with Zamfara recording 92 mass abductions and Sokoto 76 during the period.
It also warned that the resurgence of school kidnappings, particularly the Papiri incident, could have wider consequences for education, agriculture and public confidence.
SBM Intelligence further noted that paying ransom did not guarantee the safety of hostages, as victims were killed in at least six cases even after ransom had been paid.
The report recommended disrupting the financial flows that sustain insurgency while addressing the economic conditions that provide recruits for criminal groups.
“Without a coordinated strategy that targets both the profitability of the crime and its roots, Nigeria risks entrenching kidnapping not merely as a criminal industry but as a funding mechanism for the very groups that most threaten its stability,” the report warned.
Experts Warn of a Growing Criminal Economy
Security expert Jackson Ojo described Nigeria as an “unsafe territory”, blaming the worsening kidnapping crisis partly on what he called the lackadaisical attitude of some government officials.
Mr Ojo said inadequate resistance from the state had enabled terrorists, bandits and kidnappers to transform abduction into a major revenue-generating enterprise.
“Due to the lackadaisical attitude of some persons in government, they have now helped the terrorists, the kidnappers, and the bandits to turn the kidnapping industry in Nigeria into one of the highest industries and economic revenue-generating industries in Nigeria,” he said.
He said protecting citizens remained the government’s primary responsibility, while expressing concern that Nigerians were vulnerable to attacks but legally restricted from carrying firearms for self-defence.
Mr Ojo also raised concerns about the increasing sophistication of criminal groups, citing cases in which bandits allegedly issued advance notices to communities and demanded specific items, including motorcycles and call cards, as ransom.
He further highlighted the number of military personnel killed during operations against terrorists and bandits.
“It has degenerated to the extent that we have lost about four generals, we have lost about three or four colonels, and countless numbers of majors, captains, and others,” he said.
Former Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory and security consultant Lawrence Alobi also described the scale of ransom payments as exploitative and a major driver of organised crime.
Mr Alobi said the money paid to kidnappers was being used to acquire weapons and strengthen criminal networks.
“In fact, kidnapping has now become like a lucrative business for the huge amount of money that has been given to bandits.”
“By paying these ransoms, it strengthens them because they go and get more arms, get empowered, and so forth. It emboldens criminality,” he said.
Mr Alobi advocated measures to stop ransom payments, arguing that the practice had transformed kidnapping into a commercial venture.
He acknowledged, however, that families of abducted people often face difficult choices and may pay ransom because they are desperate to save their relatives.
“If it’s possible, the issue of ransom should not be paid to anybody,” he said, noting that families are often forced to pay because “the victim is always at the mercy of the family.”
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