Kidnappers abduct 4,722, collect N2.57bn ransom in one year-Report

SBM Intelligence, a geopolitical research consultancy firm, said at least 4,722 people were kidnapped in 997 incidents across Nigeria between July 2024 and June 2025, with no fewer than 762 victims killed.

The report, titled “Locust Business: The Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry”, showed that kidnappers demanded about N48 billion in ransom during the period but received N2.57 billion, which is just 5.35 percent of the total sum requested.

According to the report, kidnapping has become a lucrative criminal enterprise, with the north-west remaining the most violent region.

It noted a rise in targeted religious abductions and financially motivated extortion in the south-east and south-south.

“Nigeria continues to grapple with a myriad of security crises that have cost lives and damaged infrastructure, destabilised the economy, and changed societies.

“What all of these security issues and their purveyors or chief actors have in common is the use of the kidnap-for-ransom tool as a means to various ends–political, economic, among others.

“Unless security forces dismantle these networks and address root causes—poverty, unemployment, and weak law enforcement—the cycle of kidnappings, ransoms, and deaths will continue unchecked, leaving ordinary Nigerians in perpetual fear,” the report warned.

Naira devaluation fuels rising ransom demands

According to the report, ransom payments in naira have risen steeply, yet their dollar value has not kept pace.

In 2022, a total of N653.7 million was paid in ransom, equivalent to about $1.13 million.

By 2023, the figure had fallen to N302 million, translating to just $387,179.

In 2024, ransom payments surged to N1.05 billion, though the dollar equivalent was only around $655,000.

The latest figures show a record N2.56 billion paid, amounting to roughly $1.66 million.

The rising ransom demands in naira, contrasted with their lower dollar value, highlight the naira’s devaluation, the report says.

It noted that with inflation and dwindling livelihoods, kidnapping has evolved into a structured criminal industry where higher ransom sums sustain it as a business model rather than just a security failure.

“This significant divergence between the NGN and USD amounts reflects the ongoing devaluation of the Nigerian currency,” the report reads.

As the cost of living soars and legitimate livelihood opportunities dwindle, kidnapping has become a highly organised and pervasive criminal industry.

“The perpetrators are demanding increasingly higher sums in Naira to compensate for the currency’s weakening purchasing power, thus transforming these crimes from a symptom of a weak security apparatus to a self-sustaining business model.”

Agricultural heartlands under siege

The report documents how criminal networks now levy regular “taxes” on farming communities, kidnapping residents who fail to comply or cooperate with security forces.

In the Northwest, entire villages are abducted and forced to work on farms and mines owned by their captors, creating a parallel economy built on forced labor.

“In some cases, a large number of villagers are kidnapped in the Northwest for failure to pay levies or for collaborating with the security forces against bandits,” the report stated.

It added that mass abductions have become a tool of territorial control, with 50 such incidents in Zamfara alone involving groups of five or more victims.