Nigeria recorded about 2.2 million kidnapping incidents in a single year, with ransom payments estimated at N2.2 trillion, security expert Prof Oyesoji Aremu has said.
Aremu made the statement while delivering a public lecture organised by the Social Sciences Students’ Association (SOSSA) at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko.
He stated that the figures were based on data attributed to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to him, the scale of abductions points to the emergence of a "ransom economy" driven by banditry, kidnapping syndicates and insurgent networks across the country.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Olugbenga Ige, represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Prof Adebisi Daramola, described the lecture as timely and relevant to Nigeria’s current security realities.
Also speaking, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof Adesuyi Adebukola called for sustained collaboration among stakeholders, saying insecurity remained a major obstacle to national development.
Meanwhile, the Ondo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun Corps, said it had arrested several people who disguised themselves as lunatics to carry out crimes in parts of the state.
Commander Adetunji Adeleye disclosed the suspects were alleged to be involved in kidnapping, drug trafficking and robbery.
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Adeleye mentioned that the new tactic was uncovered following intelligence on the suspects’ modus operandi.
Also, the South-West Youths Forum lamented over the rising wave of insecurity in the region, warning that its reputation for relative peace and stability was under threat.
The forum said incidents of banditry, kidnapping for ransom, farmer-herder clashes and the infiltration of criminal elements were affecting communities across the zone.
Separately, the National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Francis Wale Oke, lamented what he called the worsening state of insecurity and bloodshed across the country.
Speaking at the conclusion of a three-day national fasting and prayer programme for the 2026 Global Pentecost Day, Oke said Nigeria had gradually lost its sense of value for human life amid recurring killings, kidnappings and violent attacks.
Oke asserted that Nigerians were troubled by the rise in banditry, insurgency and abductions in several parts of the country.
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