Kidnappers make over ₦2.5bn, kill 762 Nigerians in 12 months, report says
A recent report has shown that a total of 4,722 people were kidnapped in Nigeria between July 2024 and June 2025 and ₦2.57 billion paid in ransoms, with 762 recorded deaths.
This is according to an SBM Intelligence report, a market and security intel gathering and consulting firm which analyzes West Africa’s socio-political and economic issues.
According to the study, Locust Business: The Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry A 2025 Update, 997 incidents of kidnapping cases were recorded nationwide which led to 762 deaths. While civilians were the main casualties with a death figure of 563, 180 kidnappers and 19 security agents also lost their lives.
The report throws light on a criminal syndicate that constitutes a national security threat and promotes an illegal economic sector.
Even with ransom payments, survival is not guaranteed, as at least 32 victims were murdered in captivity despite family members making payments on their behalf. In some cases, ransom bearers were abducted or killed after delivering the agreed money.
The Northwest is said to be at the core of the kidnapper ring. Zamfara recorded 1,203 kidnap victims which is the highest in the country. Katsina is said to have reported the highest number of incidents (131 cases reported) while Kaduna recorded 629 victims. The three states listed above accounted for almost half of all abductions across the country. Southern States such as Lagos and Osun in contrast reported very low figures, with nine and one victim respectively.
23 percent of all kidnapping cases were mass abduction. The report says that bandit groups often use such measures to punish communities which in their view collaborated with security forces or failed to pay imposed levies, as the victims are sometimes forced to work on farms and mines run by the kidnappers, just as it were during the inglorious slave trade period when African slaves were subjected to harsh economic and working conditions.
The report also reveals a relationship between kidnapping and terrorism, as extreme Islamist groups like Boko Haram and the Mahmuda sect, were linked to about one-third of ransom payments.
The single largest ransom, which is ₦766 million, was said to have been paid in Borno for the release of Justice Haruna Mshelia who was abducted in September 2024. With such funds, these extremists are able to sustain their operations.
It was also revealed that Kidnappers demand larger sums in local currency to compensate for the declining value of the Naira against other foreign currencies like the dollar, as the total ₦653 million ransoms recorded in 2022 and valued at $1.13 million, was not so different from the ₦2.57 billion in 2025, valued at $1.66 million, with the current exchange rates.
While the report has revealed a troubling situation, it is hoped that the Nigerian government would ramp up efforts in nipping this evolving organized criminal enterprise and black economy in the bud before it spirals out of control.
