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Kidnap Ransoms Surge in Nigeria as Militants Collect 7.78 Billion Naira

Late August data show two mass Boko Haram abductions supplied most of the cash and risk turning ransom payments into a steady funding stream for armed groups.

FILE - People protest demanding government to rescue the school children that were recently kidnapped in various part of the country, on the street of Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)
The Nigerian government was accused of paying a ransom after a mass kidnapping St Mary's school
People sit on the grass in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released by an armed group on August 23, 2026, showing what residets said were about 600 women, children and older people abducted in an attack on a mosque in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State. SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS
People sit on the grass in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released by an armed group on August 23, 2026, showing what residets said were about 600 women, children and older people abducted in an attack on a mosque in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State. SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS

Overview

  • A Lagos security consultancy found that kidnappers collected 7.78 billion naira (about $5.8 million) between July 2025 and June 2026 and that total abductions rose 66% to 7,825 people.
  • SBM Intelligence reported at least 1,142 people were killed in kidnapping-related incidents during the year and said roughly 90% of recorded ransom payments came from two large Boko Haram mass seizures.
  • Mass abductions, including the seizure of about 300 pupils and staff from a school in Papiri and the Ngoshe raid of more than 400 people, have driven the recent spike and disrupted schooling and local economies.
  • President Bola Tinubu ordered security forces to try to rescue hundreds taken in Niger State last week, a move critics say highlights that security forces remain stretched across multiple regions.
  • Analysts warn the rising payouts risk entrenching kidnap-for-ransom as a profitable industry that could fund insurgency, worsen community displacement, and shape security and voting issues ahead of January elections.