Nigerians Paid N2.23tn As Ransom In One Year — NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, says Nigerians paid N2.23tn as ransom to kidnappers in twelve months between May 2023 and April 2024.

The bureau’s latest Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report published on Tuesday, revealed that 65 per cent of households affected by kidnapping paid ransoms for the release of their loved ones from the abductors’ den.

“The average amount paid as ransom was N2,670,693, with an estimated total ransom of N2,231,772,563,507 paid within the reference period,” the NBS report read.

According to NBS, kidnapping incidence was estimated at 2,235,954 nationally with results showing that rural areas (1,668,104) recorded more kidnappings than urban areas (567,850).

It said further analysis by zones revealed that North-West had the highest cases (1,420,307), followed by North-Central (317,837), while the least was recorded in South-East (110,432).

Of the households that experienced kidnapping, the survey indicated that 80.5 reported it to the police.

The survey indicated that the South-South zone had the highest reporting rate at 100 percent, followed by North-Central at 89.6 percent, while North-West was least reported at 73.9 percent.

According to the survey, disaggregated by place of residence, urban areas recorded 87.1 percent compared to 77.3 percent in rural areas.

A further analysis of the report disclosed that some of the abducted persons were killed, while others were released.

It revealed that of the reported cases of kidnapping, 82.1 percent were released,
12.8 percent were killed and 3.3 percent were still in captivity.

On the overall crime rate in Nigeria, the NBS survey suggested that North-West region had the highest incidence of crime. There were 14.4 million reported cases in the region, followed by the North-Central region with 8.8 million.

However, the South-East region recorded the lowest number of reported crimes.

It had 6.18 million incidents in the period under review.

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