Abuja, Nigeria — Security officials in Nigeria are raising concerns after a National Bureau of Statistics survey revealed that more than 2 million people were kidnapped in the West African nation between May 2023 and April 2024, and that Nigerians paid a cumulative $1.42 billion to kidnappers within the same period.
The NBS released its Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey 2024 on Tuesday. The report said some 600,000 Nigerians were killed and 2.2 million others abducted across the country between May 2023 and April 2024.
Armed gangs, known locally as bandits, were mostly responsible for the escalation of violence in northwest and north central Nigeria, while terror-related violence was reported in the northeast region of Nigeria.
The report said 91% of the kidnappings were attributed to ransom demands, while other cases were due to political, criminal or terrorist motives. It also said Nigerians spent $1.4 billion cumulatively to free their loved ones from kidnappers at an average of $1,700 per incident.
Security analyst Senator Iroegbu said the report is no surprise.
"The figure is not surprising. The only difference is that the media focus has shifted, and that's what makes it look as if it [insecurity] has reduced,” Iroegbu said. “So, this report has brought back to light what is going on."
According to the NBS report, 82.1% of the kidnapped victims were released, 12.8% were killed, 3.3% remained in captivity and the outcome of about 1.3% of victims was unknown.
The report comes amid growing security concerns in Africa's most populous nation already struggling to curb a range of insecurities that have stretched the security forces thin.
It also revealed that nearly seven out of 10 households in Nigeria reported murder cases to the police within the same period.
Security analyst Saheed Shehu said the trend is worrying.
"These figures should serve as a yardstick as a baseline for the president and commander-in-chief to hold his military, police, accountable,” Shehu said. “The figures should serve as a tool to hold the leaders of the security agencies accountable. We should not just be reading figures and then wait for the end of 2025 to release another figure."
In November, Nigeria announced the discovery of a new terror group known as Lakurawa but said security forces were already on their trail.
Two weeks ago, Nigerian defense authorities said the military killed a total of 8,000 terrorists and apprehended over 11,000 suspects and rescued over 6,000 victims between January and December.
But Shehu is skeptical.
"This report coming from the National Bureau of Statistics — to be honest, it makes me to be at a quandary whether the reports we're getting from security agencies of successes ... it does not balance with this report,” Shehu said. “So, something must be wrong somewhere."
Improving security is a major challenge for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's government as it desperately seeks to attract foreign investments to grow the country's struggling economy.
Nigeria allocated about $4 billion, or 12% of this year's budget, to defense and security — the largest single allocation to any sector.
