As the world marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on 30th August, new research has highlighted the growing scale and financial power of kidnapping in Nigeria.
The United Nations marks the day each year to draw attention to people who have disappeared and the suffering of their families, while calling for truth, justice and action.
The issue has particular relevance in Nigeria, where thousands of people were abducted in the 12 months to June 2026.
A report by SBM Intelligence found that 7,825 people were abducted in 1,713 kidnapping and related incidents between July 2025 and June 2026, a 66% increase from the previous reporting period.
At least 1,142 people were killed.
The report also found that victims and their families paid at least ₦7.78 billion in ransom, even though kidnappers demanded about ₦22.86 billion.
The amount paid was more than three times the ₦2.56 billion recorded in the previous period.
Speaking after the report was published, Ikemesit Effiong, Managing Partner and Head of Research at SBM Intelligence, said the figures show that kidnapping is becoming more organised and profitable.
“What this report essentially shows is the increasingly brutal efficiency with which non-state actors right across the country are extracting economic value from Nigerians in exchange for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.”
Effiong said mass abductions are becoming increasingly common, while criminal, militant and jihadist groups are collecting a growing share of ransom payments.
He said the Northwest remains the centre of the kidnapping problem by the number of incidents and victims, but stressed that the crisis is national.
“This is very much a national problem.
"No geopolitical zone is exempt.”
The report found that the JAS faction of Boko Haram collected about 90% of the recorded ransom, largely because of two major mass abductions.
Effiong rejected the suggestion that this means Nigeria is experiencing “financial terrorism,” saying banks are mainly intermediaries that facilitate transactions.
However, he said more attention should be paid to tracking ransom money.
“The hope is that we must have the political will, having a look at the numbers to actually follow through and actually get these things done.”
For SBM Intelligence, the purpose of the research is not simply to publish frightening figures but to help Nigerians measure government claims about the security situation.
“In the end, what we do at SBM is to offer the data.
"How it is used and utilised is really up to the end user.”
Effiong said the figures should also end any attempt to downplay the scale of kidnapping.
“It’s 7.7 billion in the hands of, essentially, Nigerians are being compelled to fund their oppressors in that sense.”
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