A new report by SBM Intelligence, the Lagos-based geopolitical research and strategy consultancy, has delivered yet another stark warning about Nigeria’s worsening security landscape.
Between July 2024 and June 2025, the report recorded 4,722 civilian abductions nationwide, with ransom payments totalling N2.56 billion ($1.66 million). These figures are not mere statistics; they speak to lives torn apart, families traumatised, and entire communities paralysed by criminal syndicates that operate with chilling audacity.
SBM Intelligence describes kidnapping for ransom as a “pervasive and destabilising criminal enterprise,” one that feeds off Nigeria’s economic fragility. The full financial scale of the crisis remains obscured by victims’ fear of reprisals and systemic opacity, but its social and economic toll is undeniable.
The Northwest remains the epicentre of this menace. Katsina State reported 131 incidents, followed closely by Kaduna with 123, Zamfara with 113, and Niger with 40. Yet Zamfara suffered the heaviest burden, with 1,203 people abducted, more than a quarter of all documented cases.
This plague is no longer a northern scourge alone. SBM’s data reveals a troubling shift: kidnapping is becoming decentralised, with the Southeast and South-South increasingly targeted for abductions driven by either financial gain or religious extremism. Criminals have grown more sophisticated, exploiting gaps in law enforcement and Nigeria’s deep-rooted vulnerabilities.
At the heart of this crisis lies poverty. The World Bank estimates that 89 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty, a staggering number in a country with fewer than 250 million citizens. A 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index survey by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that 63 per cent of Nigerians, around 133 million people, experience severe deprivation in critical areas such as sanitation, housing, energy, and food security.
Rural communities bear the brunt of this reality, with 72 per cent living in multidimensional poverty, compared to 42 per cent in urban areas. Poverty does not merely impoverish; it breeds despair, and despair fuels crime. Against this backdrop, the lavish lifestyles of political elites stand in stark contrast to the suffering of ordinary citizens, stoking resentment and emboldening opportunistic criminals.
The ramifications of kidnapping stretch far beyond ransom payments. Parents fear sending their children to school, commuters avoid public transport, and social interactions are tainted by mistrust. The psychological wounds left on victims and their families are profound, manifesting in anxiety, depression, and a constant sense of vulnerability.
Worse still, the expectation that families themselves fund the resolution of these crimes, whether through ransom or private security, erodes confidence in state institutions. Many despairing families bypass security agencies altogether, negotiating directly with criminals. This practice enriches syndicates and deepens cynicism towards law enforcement, creating a cycle that Nigeria has failed to break.
Other nations treat kidnapping as a direct assault on societal cohesion and governance. Successful examples show that strong legal frameworks, intelligence-driven policing, robust victim support, and international collaboration are crucial. Institutions like Interpol and the United Nations are leveraged to disrupt cross-border operations and share intelligence. Nigeria, by contrast, lacks these multi-layered deterrents.
Although security agencies occasionally announce arrests or launch operations, the steady rise in kidnapping incidents proves current efforts are inadequate. Reactive responses, ransom negotiations, arrests after the fact, or sporadic raids, do nothing to dismantle the economic and social structures that enable these crimes.
Nigeria’s challenge is both a security and moral crisis. Kidnapping is eroding the rule of law, corroding public trust, and weakening the social contract between citizens and the state. The notion of treating such terror as a “new normal” is unacceptable. National leaders must confront this scourge decisively, setting aside political calculations to deliver genuine safety for Nigerians. Security is neither optional nor negotiable; it is both a constitutional duty and a moral imperative.