Nigeria records 68 mass abductions in 2024; 735 in 5 years – Report

Report by SBM Intelligence reveals that Nigeria has experienced about 735 mass abductions with 15,398 victims over the past five years and 68 between January and March 2024 alone.

The report titled, ‘Mass Abductions, The Catastrophe Of Nigeria's Kidnap Epidemic,’ was released by SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused market/security intel gathering and strategic consulting firm.

The report reads: “Ten years after the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, Nigeria grapples with a nationwide kidnapping crisis. This epidemic has morphed from targeting schoolgirls to encompass entire villages, primary and tertiary students and highway commuters.

“Boko Haram’s use of school abductions as a terror tactic opened a window for other criminal groups. However, the tactic of using schools as a tool of anti-government terrorism has expanded to include non-school targets and economic motivations.

“Since 2019, Nigeria has witnessed at least 735 mass abductions (defined as kidnappings of five or more people), involving over 15,398 victims. 2024 alone has seen at least 68 mass abductions, averaging over one per day, with a victim count exceeding the entire years of 2019 and 2020 combined.”

In a publication sighted on Saharareporters, the ranking by states showed Kaduna recording the highest number of abductions, with 3,969 victims. Zamfara took second place with 111 mass abductions in which 3,345 people were kidnapped.

“Kaduna and Zamfara share similarities with Katsina (which has a similar high number of incidents at 83 and casualties at 1,534) due to two major factors.

“First, the insecurity in the three states is driven by the rise of bandit warlords. Second, their geographic contiguity creates a network of shared borders, including the Rugu, Sububu and Munhaye forests, which makes collaboration between bandit groups seamless and eases victims’ transport across states.

“Outside of the Northwest, Niger, which has a significant banditry crisis, dominates the charts, with 2,138 victims in 84 incidents. This translates to 25.4 people abducted per incident between 2019 and 2024.”

“The motivations behind kidnappings vary by region. While Boko Haram splinter groups like ISWAP still operate, their focus has shifted. ISWAP’s territorial control allows for taxation, reducing reliance on mass abductions— the Abubakar Shekau faction, however, resorts to mass abductions for survival. In the Northwest, bandit gangs are the primary culprits, targeting villages for unpaid levies and forced labour on bandit-controlled farms.”