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Nigeria’s insecurity crisis remains far from over, with kidnapping continuing to affect thousands of people across the country, although the scale of the crisis varies sharply from one region to another.
Data from SBM Intelligence shows that 7,825 people were kidnapped in Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026, with 1,411 incidents recorded across the country.
The victims were concentrated largely in the northern part of the country, highlighting a significant regional disparity in the spread of kidnapping.
The figures are contained in SBM Intelligence’s August 2026 report titled The Capture of Nigeria’s Kidnap Economy, which examined kidnapping incidents, victims, civilian and security casualties, ransom payments and anti-kidnap operations across the country.
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According to the research firm, the data was compiled from desk research and one-on-one interviews, drawing on publicly available information from regulators, government agencies, newspapers, trade associations and research partners. The data was subsequently fact-checked and edited before publication.
10 states with the highest number of kidnapping victims
10. Benue — 145 victims
Benue recorded 145 kidnapping victims across 32 incidents.
It recorded the highest number of anti-kidnap operations among the states, with 26 operations during the period.
The state recorded 15 civilian deaths and three kidnappers killed, with no security-agent deaths reported.
The report noted that Benue’s relatively high number of security operations did not prevent organised kidnappers from carrying out significant abductions, particularly amid the wider conflict between farming communities and pastoralists.
9. Kebbi — 216 victims
Kebbi recorded 216 kidnapping victims across 52 incidents.
The state recorded five anti-kidnap operations, 33 civilian deaths, one kidnapper killed and three security agents killed.
Kebbi also recorded a resurgence in school abductions during the period.
8. Kwara — 265 victims
Kwara recorded 265 kidnapping victims across 89 incidents.
The state carried out five anti-kidnap operations, while 50 civilians and four kidnappers were killed. Thirteen security agents were also killed.
Despite ranking eighth by number of victims, Kwara recorded the highest ransom demand among Nigerian states at N7.375 billion, driven largely by a N3.52 billion demand linked to Boko Haram activity around Woro and Wawa.
7. Kogi — 412 victims
Kogi recorded 412 kidnapping victims across 85 incidents.
Security forces conducted 21 anti-kidnap operations during the period, while 20 civilians were killed.
The state also recorded 13 kidnappers killed and one security-agent death.
6. Niger — 496 victims
Niger State recorded 496 kidnapping victims across 68 incidents.
The state recorded six anti-kidnap operations, alongside 54 civilian deaths. No kidnappers or security agents were recorded as killed in the state’s figures.
Niger also accounted for N2 billion in ransom payments, largely linked to the abduction of 315 pupils and staff of St Mary’s School in Papiri.
5. Katsina — 559 victims
Katsina recorded 559 kidnapping victims from 187 incidents, making it the state with the second-highest number of incidents after Zamfara.
The state recorded 25 anti-kidnap operations, the second-highest figure nationally after Benue’s 26.
Katsina also recorded 101 civilian deaths, one kidnapper killed and six security agents killed.
4. Kaduna — 814 victims
Kaduna recorded 814 kidnapping victims across 134 incidents.
The state carried out 24 anti-kidnap operations during the period, while 130 civilians were killed. Security forces also killed 74 kidnappers, the highest figure among the states in the report.
No security-agent deaths were recorded in Kaduna’s data.
3. Borno — 892 victims
Borno recorded 892 kidnapping victims across 55 incidents, placing it third among Nigerian states.
The state recorded 20 anti-kidnap operations, while 24 civilians and 13 security agents were killed. No kidnapper deaths were recorded in the state’s data.
Borno also recorded the country’s largest ransom payment during the period, following the abduction of 416 people in Ngoshe, for which N5 billion was reportedly paid.
2. Sokoto — 1,157 victims
Sokoto recorded the second-highest number of kidnapping victims, with 1,157 people abducted across 179 incidents.
Security forces carried out 19 anti-kidnap operations in the state. The period also recorded 166 civilian deaths, no reported kidnapper deaths and four security-agent deaths.
Sokoto also recorded one of the highest numbers of mass abductions in the country, with 76 such incidents involving 974 victims.
1. Zamfara — 1,921 victims
Zamfara recorded the highest number of kidnapping victims in Nigeria, with 1,921 people abducted across 236 incidents.
The state recorded only four anti-kidnap operations during the period. It also recorded 211 civilian deaths, three kidnappers killed and 10 security agents killed.
Zamfara’s figures were particularly significant because the state accounted for almost a quarter of all kidnapping victims recorded nationally.
Northwest remains Nigeria’s kidnapping epicentre
Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis remained heavily concentrated in the North, with the three northern geopolitical zones accounting for 7,334 of the 7,825 victims recorded during the period.
- The Northwest recorded the highest number with 4,771 victims, followed by the Northeast with 1,497 and the North-Central with 1,066.
- The Northwest also recorded the highest number of kidnapping incidents at 680, compared with 309 in the North-Central and 211 in the Northeast.
- Within southern Nigeria, the South-South recorded 192 victims, followed by the Southwest with 236 and the Southeast with 63.
Overall, the North accounted for 93.7% of all kidnapping victims, while southern Nigeria accounted for just 6.3%.
The report attributed the disparity partly to the scale of armed groups operating across the North, as well as the region’s large rural landmass, which provides forests and other difficult-to-police areas where abductors can operate and hold victims.
The Northwest also dominated mass abductions. It recorded 267 of the country’s 396 mass kidnapping incidents, representing 67.4% of the national total.
Across Nigeria, mass abductions accounted for 6,222 victims, representing 79.5% of all people kidnapped during the period.
What you should know
Nigeria’s kidnap economy generated N22.86 billion in ransom demands between July 2025 and June 2026, but N7.78 billion was actually paid.
The amount paid represented a significant increase from the previous cycle, when N2.56 billion was paid, even though total ransom demands fell from N48 billion to N22.86 billion.
A major feature of the latest data was the concentration of ransom payments among terrorist groups.
The Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of Boko Haram accounted for N7.0015 billion, representing 90% of all ransom payments recorded during the period.
