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
