ABUJA, Nigeria – A new report from Lagos-based intelligence firm SBM Intelligence has laid bare the staggering human and economic cost of Nigeria’s ongoing kidnapping crisis, revealing that criminal groups extracted more than $5.8 million in ransom payments between July 2025 and June 2026, as abduction rates soared nearly two-thirds from the previous 12-month period. The data paints a grim picture of a country grappling with overlapping security threats that have left thousands of civilians captive and shattered countless families, even as the government partners with the United States to curb the violence.
Kidnappers in Nigeria collected more than $5 million in ransoms in a year, analysts say
