4,722 Abducted, 762 Killed in One Year as Kidnap-for-Ransom Industry Nets N2.57bn

•Northwest as epicentre runs with 42.5% and 2,938 victims
•Targeting clergy intensified with 17 priests abducted, N460m demanded, N70m paid

Chiemelie Ezeobi

At least, 4,722 people were abducted in 997 incidents across Nigeria between July 2024 and June 2025, while 762 were killed in related violence according to new figures released by SBM Intelligence yesterday.
According to the report titled: “The economics of Nigeria’s kidnap industry: locust business”, kidnappers demanded a staggering N48 billion from victims’ families and communities but ultimately secured N2.57 billion (about $1.66 million) within the time frame.
“The Northwest remains the epicentre, accounting for 425 incidents (42.6 per cent) and 2,938 victims (62.2 per cent) with Zamfara recording the highest victim count (1,203), followed by Kaduna and Katsina.
“The region’s vast, weakly governed rural spaces and entrenched bandit syndicates enable mass operations. By contrast, the Southwest recorded the lowest activity (5.3 per cent of incidents; three per cent of victims).
“Mass abductions, events with more than five victims, comprised about 23 per cent of incidents and were overwhelmingly northern, often involving villagers coerced to work on bandit-run farms and mines,” the report disclosed.
Kidnapping, which has grown into a structured, profit-driven industry, was once an occasional crime, has evolved into an organised economic enterprise with networks, business-like negotiations, and an ability to exploit both weak security systems and the country’s worsening economic conditions, the report further stated.
SBM Intelligence noted that while N48 billion was demanded last year, only N2.57 billion was paid, adding that the disparity underlined both the desperation of gangs to maximise returns in an inflationary economy and the limited capacity of families to meet such inflated demands.
Noting that the economics of the kidnapping industry were shaped not just by violence but by macroeconomic shifts, the report stated that in 2022, kidnappers secured N653.7 million in ransom payments, equivalent to about $1.13 million while in 2025, the N2.57 billion extracted was worth only $1.66 million, despite being almost four times higher in naira terms.
On the other hand, they posited that the ransom dynamics saw the South-south post some of the highest demands, including a N30 billion ask in Delta, while the Northeast recorded the highest verified payments, driven by the N766 million transfer reportedly made for the release of Justice Haruna Mshelia to a Boko Haram-linked faction, equivalent to 29.8 per cent of all ransom paid during the period.
They also noted that Islamist groups’ participation in the economy of abduction was growing, with proceeds feeding insurgency logistics.
The report also disclosed that targeting of clergy intensified with at least 17 Catholic priests were abducted, with N460 million demanded and N70 million verified as paid.
“Rapid settlement may have reduced fatalities among clergy, but ransom carriage is increasingly perilous; intermediaries have been killed or kidnapped during exchanges,” it said.
Breaking it down further in terms of human cost, the report stated that the 4,722 abducted between July 2024 and June 2025 include schoolchildren, travellers, community leaders, and entire families with the victims often enduring weeks or months in captivity, subjected to harsh conditions, psychological trauma, and the constant threat of execution.
For kidnap-related violence, the report stated that at the 762 people were killed in botched rescue attempts, reprisals, or executions meant to force families into quicker payment.
SBM Intelligence noted further that the ransom proceeds transformed gangs into well-armed, resilient entities with funds recycled into weapons, motorcycles, intelligence networks, and recruitment of new members, fuelling a cycle that is difficult to break.
“The kidnap industry has reached the point where it finances itself. As long as ransom payments continue, these groups will adapt to economic pressures, expand their operations, and resist suppression.
“The concentration of kidnapping incidents in states such as Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger, and Katsina has further destabilised rural economies. Farmers abandon fields for fear of abduction, transport operators restrict services, and local businesses suffer from both reduced activity and extortion,” the report stated in part.
Also, addressing government’s response, which was deemed reactive rather than systemic as military raids and police crackdowns yielded temporary relief but failed to dismantle the networks or cut off financial lifelines, attempts by some states to ban ransom payments had proven unenforceable, as families saw no alternative when lives hung in the balance.
Characterising the industry as a “locust business”, one that stripped communities of resources, destabilised households, and thrived on desperation, the report said like a plague of locusts, it left devastation in its wake, consuming not just wealth but also the trust and stability essential to national life.
The report, therefore, called for a coordinated national policy that blended security operations with community-level intelligence, economic relief in high-risk areas, and a stronger framework to track illicit financial flows.