Nigeria Kidnapping Crisis: 7,825 Abducted as Ransom Payments Hit ₦7.78bn, SBM Reports

Nigeria recorded a sharp increase in kidnapping victims between July 2025 and June 2026, with 7,825 people abducted across 1,713 kidnapping and related incidents, according to a new report by security consultancy SBM Intelligence.

The figure represents a 66 per cent increase from the previous reporting period, when 4,722 victims were recorded. At least 1,142 people were killed during the latest 12-month period, including 895 civilians, according to the report.

The report, titled The Capture of Nigeria’s Kidnap Economy, also found that confirmed ransom payments more than tripled during the period under review, rising from ₦2.56 billion to ₦7.78 billion, equivalent to about $5.79 million.

SBM Intelligence said the figures were compiled from media reports, interviews and publicly available information and should be regarded as conservative because many ransom payments are never publicly disclosed.

The findings also reveal a striking difference between the amount of ransom demanded and the amount actually paid. Ransom demands reportedly fell from about ₦48 billion to ₦22.9 billion, while the collection rate increased significantly, reaching about 34 per cent.

One of the report’s most notable findings concerns the concentration of recorded ransom payments. SBM Intelligence attributed approximately ₦7 billion, or about 90 per cent of the recorded ransom paid, to the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of Boko Haram in eight cases.

Two major mass abductions accounted for most of that amount. The report identified the April 2026 abduction in Ngoshe, Borno State, involving 416 people, as being linked to a reported ₦5 billion ransom payment. It also cited the November 2025 abduction of pupils and staff at St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, involving 315 people and a reported ₦2 billion payment.

Together, those two cases accounted for about ₦7 billion of the recorded ransom attributed to JAS. However, reports surrounding the Papiri payment have previously contained conflicting accounts, with Nigerian authorities denying that the government paid the reported ₦2 billion ransom.

Despite the concentration of ransom money in a small number of major cases, the report found that the Northwest continued to record more kidnapping incidents and victims than the Northeast. This distinction is important because the concentration of ransom payments does not mean that Boko Haram carried out most of the country’s kidnappings.

The report also found that approximately 80 per cent of victims were abducted in group seizures, highlighting the growing role of mass abductions in Nigeria’s kidnapping economy.

The figures come amid renewed concern over mass abductions in northern Nigeria. President Bola Tinubu recently ordered security agencies to launch an immediate rescue operation after a separate mass kidnapping in Niger State, where residents reported that hundreds of people were taken during attacks on communities. Reuters said it could not independently verify the reported number of captives.

SBM Intelligence warned that the growing financial returns from kidnapping could help sustain armed groups and make mass abduction an increasingly attractive criminal enterprise.

The consultancy stressed that its figures do not represent an official government census. Instead, they provide an estimate based on available reports and other publicly accessible information. The actual size of Nigeria’s ransom economy could therefore be significantly higher.

The latest findings underline the scale of Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis: thousands of people were abducted within a single year, more than 1,100 people were killed, and billions of naira in confirmed ransom payments changed hands.

For authorities, the report points to a challenge that extends beyond rescuing victims. Disrupting the financial networks that make kidnapping profitable, improving protection for vulnerable communities and preventing mass abductions will be critical to reducing the incentive for the crime.

The figures also expose the danger of relying on viral social-media summaries. While reports that kidnapping victims increased by 66 per cent and recorded ransom payments reached about ₦7.78 billion are consistent with SBM’s findings, the widely circulated ₦8.1 billion figure does not match the report’s stated total.

The report’s central warning is clear: Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis is not only a security problem but an expanding criminal economy, with mass abductions increasingly capable of generating significant financial returns for armed groups.