Kidnappers Collected ₦7.78 Billion in Ransom Across Nigeria in One Year – Report

Armed groups, jihadist factions and criminal gangs operating across Nigeria received an estimated ₦7.78 billion, equivalent to about $5.8 million, in ransom payments between July 2025 and June 2026, according to SBM Intelligence.

The Lagos-based geopolitical risk consultancy disclosed the figures in its annual report on kidnapping and insecurity in Nigeria.

The amount paid during the period was more than three times the ₦2.56 billion recorded in the previous 12 months, highlighting the growing use of kidnapping as a source of funding for non-state armed groups.

According to the report, at least 7,825 people were abducted across Nigeria during the period under review, representing a 66% year-on-year increase. More than 80% of the victims were reportedly captured during large-scale group abductions.

Kidnapping-related violence also resulted in at least 1,142 deaths, including 895 civilians, the consultancy said.

SBM Intelligence attributed approximately 90% of the total ransom revenue to two major mass kidnappings reportedly carried out by Boko Haram. Together, the incidents generated an estimated ₦7 billion.

The first involved the abduction of more than 400 people from Ngoshe in Borno State. The second was the kidnapping of about 300 students and employees from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State.

Nigeria’s Northwest remained the main center of the kidnapping crisis, driven by entrenched armed banditry and the growing presence of jihadist groups.

Communities in the North-Central region also faced multiple security threats, including criminal abductions and recurring clashes between herders and farmers.

SBM Intelligence warned that the actual value of ransom payments could be considerably higher than the recorded figure. Nigeria’s criminalization of ransom payments has reportedly pushed many affected families and communities to negotiate secretly, making it difficult to document every transaction.

The country’s security forces are simultaneously confronting several major threats. These include the longstanding jihadist insurgency in the Northeast, widespread banditry across the Northwest and central states, and separatist tensions in the Southeast.

The report also identified poverty and economic decline as major contributors to the expansion of kidnapping networks. Worsening economic conditions provide armed groups and criminal organizations with a larger pool of vulnerable people to recruit, it noted.

SBM Intelligence stressed that military and law-enforcement operations alone may not be sufficient to end the crisis. It called for economic stabilization, improved intelligence gathering and stronger efforts to trace and disrupt the financial networks sustaining kidnapping operations.