A sobering new report by risk consultancy firm SBM Intelligence has revealed that no fewer than 7,825 people were abducted in 1,713 separate kidnapping incidents across Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026. The study further detailed that at least 1,142 victims were killed during this timeframe.
The publication, titled The Capture of the Kidnap Economy, highlights a troubling surge in financial yields for criminal networks. While total ransom demands dropped from N48 billion to N22.9 billion compared to previous metrics, actual ransom payments collected surged from N2.56 billion to N7.78 billion. This shifted the successful collection rate from 5.35 percent up to 34 percent.
Security analysts have expressed alarm over these figures, pointing out that paying massive ransoms equips violent groups with the resources needed to procure weaponry and expand their capabilities.
According to SBM Intelligence, approximately 90 percent of the total ransom money went to the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad faction of Boko Haram, which amassed N7 billion across just eight incidents. The majority of this sum stemmed from two large-scale events: N5 billion reportedly paid for 416 hostages taken in Ngoshe, Borno State, and N2 billion for 315 students and staff abducted from St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State.
Mass abductions have increasingly become the primary operational tactic for these groups. Zamfara State led the nation with 92 mass kidnapping incidents, followed by Sokoto State with 76. The return of targeted school abductions carries severe fallout, damaging public confidence, agricultural output, and access to education. Furthermore, the report emphasized that paying a ransom offers no guarantee of safety, recording at least six instances where hostages were executed despite funds being delivered.
To counter the menace, SBM Intelligence urged authorities to disrupt financial pipelines and tackle the underlying economic drivers that channel recruits toward criminal networks.
“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 report warned.
Security analyst Jackson Ojo criticized the official handling of the situation, referring to the country as an unsafe territory and attributing the escalation to an insufficient government response.
“Due to the lackadaisical attitude of some persons in government, they have now helped the terrorists, the kidnappers, and the bandits to turn the kidnapping industry in Nigeria into one of the highest industries and economic revenue-generating industries in Nigeria,” he said.
Ojo reiterated that the constitutional duty of any government is the protection of life and property, pointing out that citizens remain exposed while prohibited from carrying firearms for self-defense. He also highlighted the growing brazenness of perpetrators, who sometimes send advance warnings to targeted communities or demand specific commodities like motorcycles and recharge cards, alongside the tragic loss of senior military officers in ongoing counter-insurgency operations.
