Key facts
- Nigerian kidnappers collected approximately $5.8 million in ransom payments in the past year.
- Over 7,800 people were kidnapped between July 2025 and June 2026.
- More than 1,100 people were killed during these abductions.
- A Boko Haram faction accounted for 90% of recorded ransom payments.
- School abductions have resurged, impacting education and public trust.
Nigerian kidnappers have collected nearly $5.8 million in ransom payments over the past year from civilian abductions, a crime that is severely impacting education and eroding public trust in the government, according to a report by security consultancy SBM Intelligence. The study found that 7,825 people were kidnapped between July 2025 and June 2026, a 66% increase from the previous year, with at least 1,142 people killed.
A faction of the Islamist group Boko Haram was responsible for 90% of the recorded ransom payments, primarily from mass incidents in the northeast. However, the northwest region experienced more incidents and victims overall. The findings were released as Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered security forces to rescue approximately 600 civilians kidnapped in Niger State.
The kidnap-for-ransom industry is a central element of Nigeria's expanding security crisis, with heavily armed bandits and Islamist militants targeting schools, villages, and major roads. Victims are often held for weeks or months until ransoms are paid. SBM Intelligence estimated that Boko Haram received about 7 billion naira, largely from two mass kidnappings involving over 300 people each. The report highlighted the resurgence of school abductions, citing an incident in November where 315 pupils and staff were seized from a school in Papiri, Niger state, reviving a tactic that has significant costs for education, farming, and public trust.
Analysts suggest that President Tinubu's pledge to tackle insecurity, made upon taking office three years ago, has failed to yield tangible progress. SBM Intelligence warned that without a coordinated strategy addressing both the profitability of kidnapping and its root causes, Nigeria risks normalizing the crime as a funding mechanism for groups that threaten its stability.