A report by SBM Intelligence has revealed that no fewer than 7,825 people were abducted in 1,713 kidnap and kidnap-related incidents between July 2025 and June 2026, while at least 1,142 people were reported killed.
The report, titled The Capture of the Kidnap Economy, also disclosed that N7.8bn was paid as ransom during the period under review.
Security experts have, however, condemned the growing kidnap-for-ransom economy in the country, warning that the payment of billions of naira to criminal groups was strengthening their capacity to acquire arms and sustain violent operations.
According to SBM Intelligence, ransom demanded by kidnappers dropped from N48bn to N22.9bn, while actual payments rose from N2.56bn to N7.78bn, increasing the collection rate from 5.35 per cent to 34 per cent.
The report attributed 90 per cent of the ransom paid to the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad faction of Boko Haram, which reportedly collected N7bn from only eight incidents.
It said two major abductions accounted for almost the entire amount, including the N5bn ransom reportedly paid for 416 captives abducted from Ngoshe, Borno State, and N2bn for 315 pupils and staff of St Mary’s School, Papiri, Niger State.
SBM Intelligence said mass abduction had become the most frequent mode of operation among kidnappers, with Zamfara recording 92 mass abductions and Sokoto 76 during the period.
It noted that the resurgence of school abductions, particularly the Papiri incident, had broader consequences for education, agriculture and public confidence.
The report also warned that ransom payment did not guarantee victims’ survival, noting that in at least six cases, hostages were killed after ransom had been paid.
It recommended disrupting the financial flows sustaining insurgency while addressing the economic conditions that supply recruits to 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.
Reacting to the development, security expert, Jackson Ojo, described Nigeria as an “unsafe territory,” blaming the worsening kidnapping crisis on what he called the lackadaisical attitude of some government officials.
Ojo said the failure of the state to mount sufficient resistance had allowed 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.
The security expert stressed that the primary responsibility of government was to protect citizens, arguing that Nigerians remained vulnerable while being legally restricted from bearing arms for self-defence.
He also expressed concern over the increasing sophistication and audacity of criminal groups, citing instances where bandits allegedly issued advance notices to communities and demanded specific items, including motorcycles and call cards, as ransom.
Ojo further raised concern over the number of military personnel killed in the fight against terrorists and bandits, saying the loss of senior officers had become alarming.
“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.
Also reacting, a former Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory and security consultant, Lawrence Alobi, described the huge ransom payments as exploitative and a major driver of organised crime.
Alobi said the funds paid to kidnappers were being used to acquire more 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.
Alobi advocated measures to stop ransom payments, saying the practice had turned kidnapping into a commercial venture.
He, however, acknowledged the difficult position of families whose relatives were held hostage, noting that victims’ relatives were often compelled to pay because they wanted to save their loved ones.
“If it’s possible, the issue of ransom should not be paid to anybody,” he said, adding that families were often forced to pay because “the victim is always at the mercy of the family.”
(Punch)
