Nigerians paid N1.04 billion ransom to kidnappers in one year – Report

Nigerians paid N1.048 billion as ransom to kidnappers between July 2023 and June 2024, a report has shown.

The report, released yesterday by the SBM Intelligence, showed that 7,568 people were kidnapped across the country within the period, reports Daily Trust.

SBM Intelligence is an Africa-focused market/security intel gathering consulting firm. Information from its website said it is Nigeria’s leading geopolitical research consultancy outfit, which is “particularly strong in the area of primary data gathering, and analyses of data that provides clarity relating to political, economic and social issues in Nigeria and West Africa”.

According to the report released yesterday by the firm, though abductors demanded N11 billion as ransom within the period, only N1.048bn was paid.

The report, titled ‘Grim Reaping’, highlighted the complex security situation and the rise in kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria.

According to the report, some of the security issues confronting the country include Boko Haram’s resurgence in the North East, armed gangs in the North Central and the North West, secessionist violence in the South East and gang-related issues in the South West.

The report also blamed the rising kidnapping for ransom on economic stagnation, noting that kidnappers increasingly target a broader range of people, starting with high ransom demands that are eventually lowered to what families or social organisations can afford.

It said ransom paid reflected the purchasing power of Nigerians rather than the negotiating skills of the victims’ families.

It further pointed out that amid these diverse threats, kidnapping for ransom had emerged as a pervasive and unifying concern.

The report said the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded the highest ransom demands in the country, with Lagos and Kaduna closely trailing.

An analysis of geopolitical zones showed that the South East leads in both the amount of ransom paid and the rate of successful collections.

It further highlighted a new form of payment demanded by kidnapper-in-kind payments from victims’ families, which vary by region.

In the South, these demands often include food, drinks and cigarettes; while in the North, motorcycles are frequently requested.

The report said: “Also, between July 2023 and June 2024, our research uncovered that at least 7,568 individuals were abducted in 1,130 incidents across Nigeria. The states of Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina reported the highest numbers of both incidents and victims. Zamfara experienced 132 incidents with 1,639 victims, Kaduna had 113 incidents involving 1,113 victims and Katsina recorded 119 incidents with 887 victims.

“These states also recorded the highest number of civilian deaths. Over the past year, kidnapping has become increasingly lethal, resulting in 1,056 deaths across 1,130 reported incidents. On average, every attempted kidnapping now results in a fatality,” the SBM Intelligence report pointed out.

“In that same period, kidnappers demanded at least the sum of N10,995,090,000 (approximately $6,871,931) as ransom but received N1,048,110,000, a mere 9.5% of the money demanded, indicating that kidnappers have become less targeted in their victimology.

“Of the 1,130 reported kidnapping cases, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina have the highest numbers of incidents and victims”, it further revealed.

The report also said that Zamfara recorded the highest incidents with 132 cases and 1,639 victims.

“Zamfara recorded 132 incidents with 1,639 victims, Kaduna had 113 incidents with 1,113 victims, and Katsina reported 119 incidents with 887 victims”, it said.

“These three states also have the highest number of civilian deaths. In the year under review in this report, kidnapping has become more lethal, with 1,056 people killed in 1,130 reported kidnap incidents. On average, someone is killed each time there is an attempted kidnap”, it added.

Gombe also recorded the lowest incidents with one case, Jigawa two cases, Bayelsa 3 cases, Kano recorded 4 cases, while Osun state had six cases.

The SBM researchers also said women are more often targeted for kidnapping than men. While the South has witnessed only a modest increase in kidnapping incidents from 2022 to 2024, the North has seen a sharp escalation.

Trend dangerous – Former DSS director

Meanwhile, in an interview with one of our correspondents last night, a retired director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, described development as “dangerous for Nigeria’s economy”.

Ejiofor stressed that even though the lives lost during the period that ransom was paid were more important than the money, it was time for the president to declare a state of emergency on insecurity.

According to him, manning Nigeria’s land borders properly will go a long way in checking the cross-border movement of the kidnappers and other criminals engaging in the activities.

“If that report is anything to go by, that is very dangerous, both for our economy and for our other spheres of life. It is a danger that must be checked.

“Money raked in is not even the problem, what about the numbers of lives lost? We should not be talking about money but the numbers of lives lost first. It is high time the government did something quickly.

“The way forward is the citizens’ participation. People must be involved. We shouldn’t be waiting for our security agencies alone to do it.

“Government should also prioritise or declare an emergency on security, and give proper funding, training, among others to security agencies, and collaborate with other foreign interests and groups because what is going on now is that, we have this trans-border crimes and trans-border movement.

It is painful and a disgrace for any government to admit it is paying ransom. It is an abnormality we are going to live with for sometime. We need to invest more and restructure our intelligence architecture”, he said.