Nigerian gunmen raise over $5 million from mass kidnappings, study finds
A security consultancy said 7,825 people were abducted and at least 1,142 were killed as mass kidnappings spread across the country.
- On Wednesday, Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence reported that kidnappers in Nigeria collected nearly $5.8 million in ransom payments between July 2025 and June 2026, more than triple the prior year's total.
- A faction of the Islamist group Boko Haram collected 90% of recorded ransom payments, while abductions across Nigeria surged 66% to 7,825 victims, reflecting escalating criminal profitability and security breakdown.
- SBM reported that 80% of victims were taken in group seizures as mass abduction became the dominant mode, while at least 1,142 people were killed, including 895 civilians, during the period.
- These findings emerged as President Bola Tinubu ordered security forces to rescue as many as 600 civilians kidnapped last week in north-central Niger State, though analysts say his three-year security pledge has stalled.
- SBM warned that without disrupting financial flows funding insurgencies and fostering economic stabilization, Nigeria risks entrenching kidnapping as a permanent funding mechanism for armed groups threatening national stability.
10 Articles
10 Articles
Nigerian gunmen raise over $5 million from mass kidnappings, study finds
Nigerian kidnappers have collected nearly $5.8 million in ransom payments in the last year from civilian abductions, crime that is crippling education and eroding public trust in the government, a security consultancy said on Wednesday.
Over 1,100 killed, N7.8bn paid in ransoms as Nigerian kidnappings surge 66%
A new report reveals Nigerian kidnappings surged 66% in one year, with 1,142 killed and N7.8 billion paid in ransoms. Learn more about the crisis. Read More: https://punchng.com/over-1100-killed-n7-8bn-paid-in-ransoms-as-nigerian-kidnappings-surge-66-report/
At least 7,825 people were kidnapped between July 2025 and June 2026, according to SBM Intelligence, based in Lagos, for whom "mass abduction is now the dominant practice" for jihadist groups and criminal gangs.
Nigerian armed groups net nearly $6 mn in ransoms: study
Abductions have become a key moneymaker for criminal groups in Africa's most populous country, especially jihadists and non-ideological armed gangs known as bandits. Some 7.78 billion naira ($5.8 million) in ransom was paid between July 2025 and June 2026, the report, from Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence, said -- more than triple the 2.56 billion naira paid during the same period last year. At least 7,825 people were abducted, up 66 pe…
Nigerians pay N7.78 billion ransom as kidnappings surge 66%
Nigerians paid at least N7.78 billion in ransom to kidnappers between July 2025 and June 2026, as the number of people abducted across the country jumped by about 66% within one year, according to a new report by SBM Intelligence. The post Nigerians pay N7.78 billion ransom as kidnappings surge 66% appeared first on Nairametrics.
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