Criminal groups in Nigeria raised nearly $6 million in ransom payments in the last year, a report said Wednesday, with two mass kidnappings by Boko Haram terrorists responsible for nearly 90 percent of the total.
Abductions have become a key moneymaker for criminal groups in Africa’s most populous country, especially terrorists and armed gangs known as bandits.
Some 7.78 billion naira ($5.8 million) in ransom was paid between July 2025 and June 2026, the report, from Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence, said – more than triple the 2.56 billion naira paid during the same period last year.
At least 7,825 people were abducted, up 66 percent compared with the same period last year, based on SBM’s figures. Ransom payments are illegal in Nigeria.
A minimum of 1,142 people were killed, including 895 civilians, it added.
The northwest remains the hardest hit by the kidnapping crisis, SBM said.
Nigeria is scheduled to hold elections in January, where President Bola Tinubu is seeking a second term.
