Kidnappers in Nigeria collected at least N2.57 billion in ransom payments and killed 762 people between July 2024 and June 2025, according to a new report by SBM Intelligence.
The report stated that 4,722 victims were abducted within the period, with families and communities forced to raise huge sums for their release. While kidnappers demanded as much as N48 billion in total, only a fraction of that amount was eventually paid.
Security experts warn that the figures underscore the growing scale of kidnapping across the country, which has now become one of Nigeria’s most pressing security threats.
