No fewer than 7,825 people were abducted in 1,713 kidnapping and related incidents across Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026, while at least 1,142 others were killed, according to a report by SBM Intelligence.
The report, titled The Capture of the Kidnap Economy and published by PUNCH, also revealed that victims and their families paid at least N7.8bn in ransom during the 12-month period.
The findings have renewed concerns over the growing kidnap-for-ransom economy, with security experts warning that the billions of naira paid to criminal groups are enabling them to acquire more weapons and sustain violent operations.
According to SBM Intelligence, the total ransom demanded by kidnappers fell from N48bn to N22.9bn, while the amount actually paid increased from N2.56bn to N7.78bn. This pushed the ransom collection rate from 5.35 per cent to 34 per cent.
The report attributed about 90 per cent of the ransom paid during the period to the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad faction of Boko Haram, which reportedly collected N7bn from just eight incidents.
Two major abductions accounted for almost the entire amount. They included the reported N5bn ransom paid for 416 people abducted from Ngoshe in Borno State and N2bn paid for 315 pupils and staff of St Mary’s School, Papiri, Niger State.
SBM Intelligence also identified mass abduction as the most common method employed by kidnappers, with Zamfara recording 92 mass abductions and Sokoto 76 during the period under review.
The think tank said the resurgence of school abductions, particularly the Papiri incident, had far-reaching implications for education, agriculture and public confidence.
It further warned that paying ransom did not guarantee the safety of victims, noting that at least six cases were recorded in which hostages were killed even after ransom had been paid.
The report recommended disrupting the financial networks that sustain insurgency while simultaneously addressing the economic conditions that provide a steady supply of 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 findings, security expert Jackson Ojo described Nigeria as an “unsafe territory”, blaming the worsening kidnapping crisis partly on what he described as the lackadaisical attitude of some government officials.
Ojo argued that the failure of the state to mount sufficient resistance 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 stressed that the primary responsibility of government was to protect citizens, noting that Nigerians remained vulnerable to attacks while being legally restricted from carrying arms for self-defence.
Ojo also expressed concern over the increasing sophistication and audacity of criminal groups, citing reports of bandits issuing advance notices to communities and demanding specific items, including motorcycles and phone call cards, as ransom.
The security expert further raised concerns over the number of military personnel killed while combating terrorists and bandits, describing the loss of senior officers as 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.
A former Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory and security consultant, Lawrence Alobi, also condemned the huge ransom payments, describing them as exploitative and a major driver of organised crime.
Alobi said the money paid to kidnappers was being used to purchase 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 called for measures to discourage ransom payments, arguing that the practice had effectively turned kidnapping into a commercial enterprise.
He, however, acknowledged the difficult circumstances faced by families whose relatives are held hostage, noting that many are compelled to pay because they prioritise the safety of 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.”
