RURAL KIDNAPPING FOR RANSOM: TRENDS, CAUSES AND COMMUNITY RESPONSES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Over a decade, kidnapping for ransom (KFR) has emerged as one of the most disruptive security challenges that Nigeria faces in the 21st century. Once localised to oil-producing regions in the Niger Delta, KFR has spread to rural hinterlands in Nigeria, thereby engulfing rural agricultural communities in the North-West, North-Central, North-East, and, more recently, the South-East geopolitical regions. The goal of this study is to produce a holistic description of trends in rural kidnapping for ransom, causal predictors, and the community response process taking place in Nigeria. The methodology used for this study is based on documentary analysis, utilising primary sources of data, including government reports, international organisations' categories, media monitoring databases, evaluations of non-governmental organisations, and peer-reviewed academic literature published between 2014 and 2024. The study shows that there is a clear indication of a sharp increase in the number of kidnapping incidents directly related to rural areas over the last ten years. On the one hand, in the 2018-2019 biennium, they reached about 1,008 cases; on the other hand, 3,533 were reported in the 2022-2023 period. The cumulative ransom paid is estimated at 141.9 million US dollars during the study period.