Nigeria recorded a sharp increase in kidnapping incidents over the past year, with 7,825 people abducted and at least 1,142 people killed between July 2025 and June 2026, according to a new report by SBM Intelligence.
The report, titled The Capture of the Kidnap Economy, documented 1,713 kidnapping and related incidents during the 12-month period. The number of people abducted represented a 66 per cent increase compared with the previous reporting period, highlighting the growing scale of the security challenge facing the country.
The report also estimated that N7.78 billion was actually paid to kidnappers in ransom during the period. This was more than three times the N2.56 billion recorded in the preceding cycle, despite the total amount demanded by kidnappers falling from about N48 billion to N22.9 billion.
The findings suggest that the kidnapping economy has become more financially effective for some armed groups, even as the overall amount demanded declined.
A particularly significant part of the report concerns the concentration of ransom payments. According to SBM Intelligence, a faction of Boko Haram, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, accounted for about 90 per cent of the ransom actually paid during the period, despite being linked to only eight incidents.
Two major mass abductions accounted for approximately N7 billion of the total ransom paid. One involved the abduction of 416 people in Ngoshe, Borno State, for which N5 billion was reportedly paid, while another involved 315 pupils and staff abducted from St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, with N2 billion reportedly paid for their release.
The figures reveal an important difference between the frequency of kidnapping and the financial value generated by individual incidents. While bandits and criminal gangs were responsible for many of the recorded abductions, a much smaller number of large-scale incidents generated a disproportionate share of the ransom money.
The report identified the North-West as the region with the highest number of kidnapping incidents, victims and deaths during the period under review. Zamfara recorded 236 incidents involving 1,921 victims, accounting for nearly a quarter of all reported abductions nationwide.
The wider northern region accounted for 93.7 per cent of all people abducted, while the southern states accounted for 6.3 per cent.
Mass abductions have also become an increasingly prominent feature of the crisis. The report identified group abductions as the most common method used by kidnappers, with Zamfara recording 92 mass-abduction incidents and Sokoto recording 76.
The resurgence of school kidnappings is another major concern. The Papiri incident demonstrated how a single attack can affect not only students and their families but also the wider education system and public confidence in the safety of schools.
The impact of kidnapping also extends beyond the people directly taken hostage. Families often face enormous financial pressure when criminals demand ransom, while communities can be forced to raise money collectively to secure the release of victims.
The report further found that paying ransom did not always guarantee the safe release of victims. In at least six incidents documented during the period, victims were reportedly killed even after ransom had been paid. In other cases, people attempting to deliver ransom were themselves abducted.
Kidnappers also increasingly demanded items other than cash, including motorcycles, mobile phones, food and fuel. The development suggests that criminal groups are adapting their demands to the financial circumstances of their victims.
The economic consequences are equally significant. Fear of abduction can discourage farming, restrict movement, disrupt businesses and force families to relocate from affected communities.
Schools and other public institutions can also suffer when parents become afraid to send children to areas considered vulnerable to attacks. The resulting disruption can deepen existing economic and social problems in communities already facing insecurity.
The report's findings also raise questions about the financial networks sustaining armed groups. When ransom payments generate substantial income, kidnapping becomes more than an isolated criminal activity and can provide resources for organisations involved in wider insecurity.
SBM Intelligence therefore called for greater attention to the financial side of kidnapping, arguing that authorities need to disrupt the money flows that make the crime profitable while also addressing the economic conditions that help criminal groups recruit new members.
The findings come at a time when Nigerian security agencies are facing several overlapping threats, including insurgency in the North-East, banditry and kidnapping in the North-West and parts of North-Central Nigeria.
The scale of the latest figures should nevertheless be interpreted carefully. SBM Intelligence said its data was compiled from media reports, interviews and publicly available information and described the figures as conservative because many incidents and ransom payments are never publicly disclosed.
This means the actual number of people abducted and the amount paid in ransom could be higher than the documented figures.
The report presents a serious picture of Nigeria's kidnapping crisis, but it also points to the need for a broader response than military operations alone.
Security agencies need effective intelligence, rapid response capabilities and stronger cooperation, while authorities must also work to prevent criminal groups from accessing and moving ransom proceeds.
At the community level, improving protection around schools, roads, farms and vulnerable settlements could help reduce opportunities for mass abductions.
For families and communities affected by kidnapping, however, the immediate concern remains the safety of their loved ones and the restoration of an environment where people can work, travel and send their children to school without living under constant fear.
The latest findings underline the scale of the challenge facing Nigeria and suggest that tackling kidnapping will require sustained security operations alongside measures aimed at weakening the financial incentives that continue to make abduction profitable.
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