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.
Nigeria’s SBM Intelligence said 7,825 people were kidnapped between July 2025 and June 2026, up 66% from the year before. At least 1,142 people were killed, and total confirmed ransom payments more than tripled to 7.78 billion naira ($5.79 million), it said.
The figures were compiled from media reports, interviews and publicly available information, and SBM said they were conservative because many ransom payments were never disclosed.
A faction of the Islamist group Boko Haram collected 90% of the recorded ransom payments from kidnappings in the northeast, but there were more incidents and victims in the northwest, according to SBM.
The findings were released as Nigeria’s president ordered security forces to rescue as many as 600 civilians kidnapped last week in north-central Niger State.
