Nigerians paid a staggering ₦2.23 trillion as ransom to kidnappers between May 2023 and April 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The figure was revealed in the bureau’s latest Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report released on Tuesday.
The report showed that 65% of households affected by kidnapping paid ransoms, with an average payment of ₦2.67 million per case. An estimated 2.24 million kidnapping incidents were recorded nationwide, with rural areas (1.67 million) experiencing more cases than urban areas (567,850).
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The survey also indicated that 80.5% of affected households reported kidnapping incidents to the police. Of the reported cases, 82.1% of abductees were released, 12.8% were killed, and 3.3% remained in captivity.
On the overall crime rate, the North-West region recorded the highest number of crime incidents with 14.4 million cases, followed by the North-Central with 8.8 million. The South-East region reported the lowest crime figures with 6.18 million cases during the survey period.
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