No fewer than 7,825 people were abducted and at least 1,142 killed in 1,411 kidnapping incidents across Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026, a new report by SBM Intelligence has revealed.
The report, Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry 2026, also disclosed that kidnappers demanded N22.856 billion in ransom during the period but received N7.779 billion, representing a 34 per cent collection rate.
According to the report obtained from SBM Intelligence’s website on Friday, the figures represented a sharp increase in both the scale and lethality of kidnapping compared with the previous reporting cycle, when 4,722 people were abducted in 997 incidents and 762 people were killed.
The report said the amount of ransom actually paid had more than tripled compared with the previous cycle, despite a decline in the total amount demanded.
It attributed the wide gap between ransom demands and payments partly to negotiations between kidnappers and victims’ families, noting that initial demands were often deliberately exorbitant before being negotiated down to amounts acceptable to both parties.
It added that dwindling financial resources among victims’ families could also influence ransom negotiations, with some hostage-release agreements involving food and other supplies.
For its actor-level analysis, SBM said it identified groups based on reports from individual incidents and attributed ransom payments to the group specifically identified as responsible. Where no particular group could be identified, the perpetrators were classified simply as “kidnappers.”
The report showed that Zamfara State recorded the highest number of kidnapping incidents and victims during the period, with 236 incidents involving 1,921 abducted persons.
The figures represent 16.74 per cent of all reported kidnapping incidents and 24.55 per cent of victims nationwide.
Katsina followed with 187 incidents involving 559 victims, while Sokoto recorded 179 incidents and 1,157 victims.
Kaduna ranked fourth with 134 incidents involving 814 victims.
SBM Intelligence attributed the relatively lower number of victims per incident in Katsina, compared with Zamfara, partly to community- and local government-led peace initiatives and the activities of state-backed vigilante groups.
It said the Katsina State Community Security Watch Corps had been more effective in resisting kidnappers than the Zamfara Community Protection Guards, with support from conventional security agencies.
In Sokoto, the report linked the high number of victims to the presence of different armed groups, including bandits, small kidnapping gangs and the Islamist group Lakurawa, which it said use kidnapping for ransom for different purposes.
Kwara State was the first state outside the North-West among the states with the highest number of kidnapping incidents, recording 89 incidents involving 265 victims.
However, SBM noted that the figures were significantly influenced by the abduction of 176 people from Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area in February 2026.
The single incident accounted for 66.4 per cent of the state’s total kidnapping victims during the period.
South records fewer cases
The report said kidnapping remained significantly less prevalent in southern Nigeria than in the North.
Bayelsa recorded no abduction on land or at sea during the period under review, while Abia recorded one incident involving two victims.
Jigawa, despite being located in the North-West, also recorded only one kidnapping incident involving three victims.
SBM attributed Jigawa’s relative security partly to policies adopted by successive administrations, including measures aimed at resolving farmer-herder disputes, providing access to cattle routes and forest reserves, water and nomadic schools.
Lagos also recorded one kidnapping incident involving one victim.
The report said the state’s consistently low kidnapping figures could partly be explained by its small landmass and high population density, leaving limited forests and rural areas where victims could be held.
North accounts for 85% of incidents
The North-West recorded 680 kidnapping incidents during the period, followed by the North-Central with 309 and the North-East with 211.
Together, the three northern geopolitical zones accounted for 85.1 per cent of all reported kidnapping incidents.
In southern Nigeria, the South-South recorded the highest number of incidents with 89, followed by the South-West with 79 and the South-East with 43.
The South-West, however, recorded the highest number of victims among the three southern zones, with 236, compared with 192 in the South-South and 63 in the South-East.
Overall, 491 people were abducted in southern Nigeria during the period, compared with 7,334 victims recorded across the three northern geopolitical zones.
The report noted that despite differences in ideology and objectives among the various armed actors, kidnapping for ransom had increasingly become a common instrument of insecurity in Nigeria, used to generate funds, exert influence and assert power.
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