Nigeria’s Kidnappers N2trn Richer, As Victims Count Loses

Kidnappers in the country have raked in a whopping N2. 2 trillion from their victims within one year, raising concerns among Nigerians, of the thriving evil business of abducting people for money.

According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, kidnappers received the sum form their victims between May 2023 and April 2024. The agency however disclosed that most of the abductions were carried out in the nation’s rural areas.

The NBS report, released on Tuesday, also listed, region by region basis the  level of exposure to kidnapping within the period.

The agency revealed that more than half of the households that experienced kidnapping paid ransoms to secure the release of their loved ones. The report noted that the average amount paid as ransom was ₦2.7 million per incident. The Northwest reported the highest ransom paid, totalling ₦1.2 trillion, while the Southeast recorded the least with ₦85.4 billion.

The NBS report said: “65.0 per cent of households that experienced kidnapping paid ransom. Overall, the estimated amount paid as ransom for kidnapping during the reference period was ₦2.2 trillion, with an average amount of ₦2.7 million per incident. The Northwest reported the highest ransom paid with ₦1.2 trillion, while the Southeast recorded the least with ₦85.4 billion.”

According to the survey, Nigeria recorded 2,235,954 incidents of kidnapping. Rural areas accounted for more than half of the total incidents, with 1,668,104 cases, while urban areas recorded 567,850 cases.

States in the Northwestern part of the country recorded the highest number of kidnapping incidents, while the Southeast reported the least.

“Kidnapping incidence was estimated at 2,235,954 nationally. The results show that rural areas (1,668,104) recorded more kidnappings than urban areas (567,850). Further analysis by zones revealed that the Northwest had the highest cases (1,420,307), followed by the North-Central (317,837), while the least was recorded in the Southeast (110,432),” it added.

Interestingly, households in urban areas that experienced kidnappings paid higher ransoms than those in rural areas.

“Households in urban areas paid an average of ₦3.7 million compared to ₦2.3 million in rural areas,” the NBS noted in the report.

A total of 1,416,856 households experienced kidnapping in Nigeria, and only 80.5 per cent of this population reported the incidents to the police.

Almost all the victims of abductions were kidnapped for ransom.

“About 91 per cent of kidnapping incidents were carried out for ransom in the form of money, goods, or other benefits. Also, 2.4 per cent of cases were attributed to political, criminal, or terrorist objectives, while 2.1 per cent were linked to personal or family disputes. Custody disputes accounted for 0.5 per cent of cases.

Meanwhile, security experts who spoke with the magazine on the issue said the figure released by the agency is very conservative, considering that many cases of kidnappings are not reported by the victims or their families, in other not to jeopardize the safety of their loved ones.

The experts added that the cases of abductions have reduced tremendously as the nation’s security agencies stepped up their onslaught against the criminals.