In Nigeria, armed groups kidnapped at least 3,620 persons between July 2022 and June 2023, with a ransom of N5 billion demanded, according to a recent report by a Lagos-based security and political risk research organisation.

The report titled “The Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry,” produced by SBM intelligence, also stated that the armed men killed 570 people within the period.

The report described how security concerns in Nigeria have spread to all six geopolitical zones and how the plan of abduction for ransom has replaced other motives for kidnapping due to Nigeria’s troubled economy, growing inflation, and high unemployment rates.

According to the study released last week, 582 kidnapping-related occurrences resulted in the abduction of 3,620 people in Nigeria.

It said that of the N5 billion demanded as ransom ($6,410,256) as of June 30, 2023, confirmed fingers only revealed N302 million ($387,179), or six per cent.

“However, this figure could be higher due to underreporting. Kidnap dynamics differ between individual and community cases, with secrecy less prevalent in larger-scale abductions.

“In some instances, kidnappers opt for non-monetary ransom, like foodstuff. Notably, the North-West, North-Central regions exhibit higher numbers of in-kind ransom demands,” the report said.

In 2020, SMB reported that between June 2011 and the end of March 2020, at least $18.34 million was paid to kidnappers as ransom in Nigeria, and the larger proportion of that figure (just below $11 million) was paid between January 2016 and March 2020.

In 2022, the research company said that about N653.7 million was paid as ransom for releasing victims between July 2021 and June 2022.

Numbers of deaths and kidnappings across geopolitical zones

The index also revealed that the North-West had the highest number of kidnap cases, with 1,921 victims and 217 deaths. Among the seven states that make up the region, Kaduna State, ravaged by bandits and communal clashes between herders and farmers, was recorded to have paid N11.4 million out of the N247.3 million demanded for ransom.

The report said the North-Central comes second with 977 people kidnapped and 153 deaths.

“Kidnappers appear more likely to get better ransoms in the North-Central than in other regions. Nasarawa is largely responsible for this. In the past year, kidnappers narrowed their targets to high-value individuals such as retired government officials and families of politically exposed persons because it is easier to extract maximum ransom with minimal fuss, such as in the case of the information commissioner, Mohammed Yakubu Lawal, who was kidnapped in August 2022 alongside his son, Mushab Mohammed Yakubu Lawal.” the report said.

North-East, a region that has suffered a decade-long insurgency by the extremist group Boko Haram, was said to have recorded 125 cases of kidnapping and 63 deaths.

The South-East, which has also had its share of insecurity, recorded 159 kidnapping cases and 27 deaths, while the South-West region recorded 168 cases and 29 deaths.

On the other hand, ransom payments in the South-South, at N20 million– the lowest of the six geopolitical zones–may have to do with better police rescue operations or kidnap victims keeping a tight lip.

Bayelsa, for instance, does not have any report of ransom demands or payments in the period under review.