Nigeria’s kidnap crisis has deepened into a multibillion-naira industry, with at least 4,722 people abducted and B2.56 billion paid in ransom between July 2024 and June 2025, according to a new report by SBM Intelligence.
The study, Locust Business: The Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry – A 2025 Update, warns that kidnapping has become a highly organised and pervasive criminal industry rather than an isolated security problem.
During the review period, SBM recorded 997 incidents across the country, in which 762 people were killed, including 563 civilians. The Northwest remained the epicentre, accounting for 62.2% of victims. Zamfara alone reported 1,203 abductions, while Katsina recorded the highest number of incidents (131).
Ransom demands totalled N48 billion, but only 5.3% was actually paid. A single case, the abduction of Borno State High Court judge Justice Haruna Mshelia in September 2024, accounted for nearly N766 million, the highest ransom confirmed in the year.
“Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis has evolved into a lucrative criminal enterprise, with N2.56 billion ($1.66 million) confirmed in ransom payments and 4,722 civilians abducted in just one year. The Northwest remains the most violent, while the Southeast and South-South face targeted religious abductions and financial extortion,” the report stated.
The human toll was equally severe, with mass abductions spreading from rural villages in the North to highways in the South. Religious leaders were frequent targets, with 17 Catholic priests abducted and one killed. SBM said prompt ransom payments may explain why more clergy survived, though the Church rarely acknowledges such transactions.
The report links the rising scale of kidnappings to Nigeria’s economic crisis. While naira ransom payments have surged, their dollar value has not kept pace, reflecting the impact of currency devaluation.
“In the 2022 report, a total of N653.7 million was paid, which equated to approximately $1.13 million. The following year, the amount paid dropped to N302 million, translating to a mere $387,179. Although the NGN amount paid rose sharply to N1.05 billion in 2024, the USD equivalent was only around $655,000. The latest figures show a new high, with N2.56 billion paid, which amounts to approximately $1.66 million,” it said.
SBM warned that unless the government tackles both insecurity and underlying economic distress, kidnapping will remain a self-sustaining national industry.
“Breaking this cycle demands urgent, systemic action. Disrupting financial networks through advanced tracing technologies could starve kidnappers of profits, while economic stabilisation might reduce recruitment pools.
“But without coordinated strategies targeting both the crime’s profitability and its socioeconomic drivers, Nigeria risks entrenching kidnapping as a grim national industry—one that perpetuates poverty, undermines recovery, and leaves citizens hostage to a failing system. The time for half-measures has passed; only through dismantling the ransom economy can Nigeria begin reclaiming its security and future,” the report concluded.
