By Afolayan Sunday
Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis has reached a grim new milestone, with a staggering 7,825 people abducted and at least 1,142 killed between July 2025 and June 2026.
According to a security report released by SBM Intelligence titled The Capture of Nigeria’s Kidnap Economy, the country experienced a 66% surge in abductions compared to the previous year.
Despite a federal ban on ransom payments, desperate families and communities shelled out at least N7.78 billion ($5.8 million) to secure the release of loved ones.
The report also stated that during the period under review, the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad faction of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group collected 90% of this ransom.
Part of the report reads: “Nigeria’s kidnap industry has undergone a fundamental shift. Between July 2025 and June 2026, no fewer than 7,825 people were abducted across 1,713 kidnap and kidnap-related incidents, a 66% increase in victims from the previous cycle, with at least 1,142 people killed.
“Between July 2025 and June 2026, 7,825 people were abducted, and N7.8 billion was paid. A single Boko Haram faction collected 90% of that ransom from just eight incidents — two mass abductions accounted for N7 billion.”
Accounting for the N7bn total ransom paid during this period, the report tied the figure to two major incidents — the N5bn ransom from Ngoshe, Borno State, and the N2bn from Papiri, Niger State.
The report added: “Ransom demanded fell from N48 billion to N22.9 billion, yet the amount actually paid more than tripled, from N2.56 billion to N7.78 billion. The collection rate jumped from 5.35% to 34%. This is not because kidnappers are getting better at negotiating. One group, the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of Boko Haram, collected 90% of all ransom paid from just eight incidents.
“Two abductions drove the year’s total: the N5 billion ransom for 416 captives taken
from Ngoshe, Borno, and the N2 billion paid for 315 pupils and staff abducted from St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger. Between them, these accounted for N7 billion, almost the entire national ransom bill.”
Based on geopolitical zones, the Northwest recorded the highest figures in incidents, victims and deaths.
“Zamfara recorded 236 kidnapping incidents and 1,921 victims, nearly a quarter of the national total. The North accounts for 93.7% of all abducted persons, while the South’s share has shrunk to just 6.3%,” the report stated.
SBM Intelligence noted that the most frequent mode of operation by the perpetrators is “mass abduction.”
It noted that in Zamfara, 92 mass abductions were recorded, followed by Sokoto with 76.
“School abductions have resurged, with the Papiri attack reviving a tactic whose costs ripple through education, farming and public trust.
“Payment is no guarantee of survival. In at least six cases, victims were killed after ransom was paid. Ransom-bearers are increasingly being abducted themselves. And in 14 incidents, kidnappers demanded goods, motorcycles, phones, food and fuel, again showing an economy calibrating to the thin cash resources of its victims,” it added.
The report stated that while kidnapping cases during this period under review were typically tied to bandits and criminal gangs, the eventual payout is “dominated by a single terrorist organisation.”
To overcome this national menace, it recommended: “disrupting the financial flows that now underwrite insurgency, and addressing the economic desperation that supplies its foot soldiers.”
The report cautioned that “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 strategic implication is stark. The everyday kidnap economy — bandits and criminal gangs — demanded N13.5 billion but collected just N719 million, a 5.3% collection rate. JAS, by contrast, demanded N9.2 billion and collected N7 billion, a 76% rate. Measured by what was demanded, the kidnap economy is a crime of the many. Measured by what was actually paid, it is dominated by a single terrorist organisation.”
