7,825 Nigerians Abducted, N7.8bn Ransom Paid in One Year — Report
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 people were killed, according to a report by SBM Intelligence.
The report, titled “The Capture of the Kidnap Economy,” also estimated that N7.8 billion was paid as ransom to kidnappers during the 12-month period.
SBM Intelligence said the figures highlighted the growing scale of Nigeria’s kidnapping economy, warning that ransom payments were increasingly providing criminal and terrorist groups with resources to acquire weapons, recruit fighters and sustain violent operations.
According to the report, the total ransom demanded by kidnappers declined from N48 billion to N22.9 billion, but actual ransom payments increased from N2.56 billion to N7.78 billion.
The increase raised the ransom collection rate from 5.35 per cent to 34 per cent, indicating that despite a substantial reduction in the amount demanded, a considerably larger proportion of the demanded ransom was ultimately paid.
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 approximately N7 billion from eight incidents.
Two major mass-abduction cases reportedly accounted for most of the amount. They included the reported payment of N5 billion for 416 captives abducted from Ngoshe in Borno State, and N2 billion for 315 pupils and staff abducted from St Mary’s School, Papiri, in Niger State.
SBM Intelligence further identified mass abduction as the dominant operational pattern among kidnappers during the period, with Zamfara recording 92 incidents and Sokoto 76.
The report said the resurgence of school kidnappings, particularly the Papiri incident, had consequences extending beyond the immediate security threat, affecting education, agricultural activities and public confidence.
It also warned that ransom payments did not guarantee the safety of hostages, noting that victims were killed in at least six cases despite ransom payments.
The organisation recommended disrupting the financial networks sustaining terrorism and kidnapping while simultaneously addressing the socioeconomic conditions that facilitate recruitment into 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 increasingly unsafe environment, attributing the worsening kidnapping crisis partly to what he described as inadequate government response.
Ojo said the inability of the state to effectively contain terrorist, bandit and kidnapping networks had enabled criminal groups to transform abduction into a major revenue-generating enterprise.
He argued that the government’s primary responsibility was to protect citizens, expressing concern that Nigerians remained vulnerable to armed criminal groups while being legally restricted from carrying firearms for self-defence.
Ojo also raised concerns over the growing sophistication and audacity of criminal groups, citing cases in which bandits allegedly issued advance notices to communities and demanded specific items, including motorcycles and telephone recharge cards, as ransom.
He further expressed concern over military casualties in counter-insurgency and counter-banditry operations, particularly the reported deaths of senior military officers.
Another security expert and former Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory, Lawrence Alobi, described the scale of ransom payments as exploitative and a major driver of organised crime.
Alobi said money paid to kidnappers was often reinvested in weapons and other resources, thereby strengthening criminal networks and encouraging further attacks.
He advocated measures to reduce or prevent ransom payments, arguing that the practice had increasingly transformed kidnapping into a commercial enterprise.
However, Alobi acknowledged the difficult position of families whose relatives are abducted, noting that victims’ relatives are frequently compelled to raise ransom because of the immediate threat to the lives of their loved ones.
The SBM Intelligence findings come amid continuing military and police operations against bandits, terrorists and kidnappers across several parts of the country.
The scale of the reported abductions and ransom payments nevertheless underscores the need for a broader security strategy that combines intelligence-led operations, disruption of criminal financing, improved protection of vulnerable communities and transport corridors, stronger prosecution of kidnapping networks and measures to reduce the profitability of abduction.
The report ultimately suggests that kidnapping has evolved beyond a series of isolated criminal incidents into a structured illicit economy capable of financing wider insecurity, making financial disruption a critical component of Nigeria’s counter-kidnapping strategy.
