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A sprawling parallel economy built on human captivity continues to devastate families across Northern Nigeria, turning kidnapping into a lucrative commercial enterprise.
Research from SBM Intelligence reveals the staggering scale of the crisis: between July 2025 and June 2026, abductors seized 7,825 people across the country—with 7,334 of those victims recorded in the three northern geopolitical zones alone.
During this period, families paid an estimated ₦7.78 billion in ransom to secure the release of their loved ones.
The crisis forces desperate households to liquidate life savings, sell farmlands, and mobilise entire communities to meet extortionate demands.
In Kebbi State, kidnappers snatched High Court Judge Faruk Hassan Bunza, dropping their initial ₦200 million demand to ₦50 million plus soft drinks before releasing him.
Cash Is No Longer The Only Currency
Elsewhere, cash is no longer the only currency. When abductors took college administrator Bashar Sani in Zamfara State, his family paid ₦20 million, three motorcycles, and ₦150,000 worth of recharge cards; tragically, captors killed Sani after 42 days in captivity despite receiving the full payment.
This criminal market operates as a continuous logistics supply chain, where commodities like fuel, food, and motorcycles directly fund the mobility and operations of armed groups. In response, entire villages now function as ransom-raising units.
Kwara State’s Awun community recently pooled ₦60 million—drawing heavily on diaspora contributions—to free three children held for four months.
Similarly, in Oro-Ago, abductors demanded ₦1 billion for eight church worshippers, eventually extracting ₦20 million and supplies before killing five captives.
While security agencies insist on zero-tolerance policies against ransom payments, families face an agonising dilemma between national security strategy and a relative’s survival.
Government forces have achieved notable non-ransom rescues, such as the recovery of 163 victims in Kaiama Local Government Area in August, proving that rapid, intelligence-led operations can disrupt the market.
Nevertheless, without systemic protection for rural areas and tighter tracking of illicit supply networks, the ransom economy will continue shifting wealth from vulnerable citizens into the hands of criminal cartels.
