At least 257 people were kidnapped in Nigeria’s South-East region between July 2024 and June 2025, according to a new security report by SBM Intelligence.
The figure represents 5.6 per cent of the total national figure of 4,722 abductions documented within the period.
The report, titled “Locust Business – The Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry: A 2025 Update,” ranked Enugu as the state with the highest record of kidnapped persons, with 123 in total.
Anambra followed with 63 kidnapped cases; 42 in Imo, 2 in Ebonyi and 27 in Abia State within the period under review.
The report further stated that kidnappers in the South-East demanded a total of N1.005bn in ransom, but only received N157.55m.
This accounted for 6.1 per cent of the N2.56bn collected nationwide.
While the North-West remained the epicentre of abductions, the SBM said that the South-East faced a different trend.
According to the report, “The South-East and South-South face targeted religious abductions and financial extortion”, with clergy and professionals among the most affected.
“Catholic priests were a major group susceptible to kidnap attacks.
“However, in recent months, the net has widened to include other Catholic stakeholders such as nuns, catechists, seminary students and altar boys,” the report disclosed.
Notable cases include the abduction of Reverent Father Gerald Ohaeri of Nsukka Diocese (Enugu) in December 2024, for whom N40 million was reportedly paid.
Another case was the kidnapping of a Catholic engineer in Nimo community, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State in November 2024, where abductors demanded N50 million.
The report added: “If the ransom demanded includes the N50 million demanded for the Catholic engineer who was kidnapped in Nimo community in Njikoka, Anambra State, in November 2024, the total jumps to N510 million.
“We believe that although paying ransoms no longer guarantees the safe release of the captives, it is possible that the decline in the death of abducted Catholic clergy may have to do with prompt ransom payments, a development the Catholic Church is
unlikely to admit.”
The South-South region also recorded some of the most outrageous ransom demands in the country, the report said.
In Delta State, 79 people were abducted, including the March 2025 abduction of three family members in Ukwuani LGA, where kidnappers reportedly demanded N30bn.
“Of the N48bn demanded as ransom, the highest amount demanded came from the 15 March 2025 abduction of Chidimma and Precious Enuma, as well as their aunt Anwuri Okoye in Ebedei Ukwuole community of Ukwuani local government area of Delta State.
“The kidnappers requested N30 billion as ransom; this singular incident represents 62.5% of all ransom demanded,” the report said.
In Rivers State, 34 abductions were recorded, including the kidnapping of clergy along the Elele-Isiokpo Road.
Other states like Edo reported 54 abductions, Bayelsa 11, Akwa Ibom 12, and Cross River 9, thus, underscoring how the kidnap industry has spread across the Niger Delta corridor, the report noted.
SBM Intelligence further tied the spread of abductions in both Southeast and South-South to the nation’s worsening economy.
It said both regions, accounting for nearly 10 per cent of nationwide kidnappings, face targeted religious abductions and financial extortion and warned that “paying ransoms no longer guarantees the safe release of the captives.”
