After gun-wielding terrorists abducted 13 residents in suburbs of Abuja earlier this year, they demanded N900 million ransom. Although they received less than what they demanded.
In another attack, in Abuja, the terrorists kidnapped the family of Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyar including his six daughters.
The terrorists would later release Al-Kadriyar, asking him to pay N60m ransom for the release of his daughters.
While sourcing the ransom, the terrorists killed one of his daughters, Nabeeha, a 400-level student of Biological Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The remaining girls were released after the terrorists received more than N50 million in ransom.
These incidents, WikkiTimes understands place Abuja on the top list of where terrorists received more ransom across the nation, according to a report by SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused security think tank.
The Federal Capital Territory took the lead [in ransom payment] with N111.45 million. It was followed by its neigbouring state, Nasarawa; N55.5 million as terrorists collected N32.24 million ransom in Borno State.
SBM Intelligence noted that “the FCT leads the way regarding ransom demand, with N3.13 billion requested. However, a handful of cases–many of them mass abductions–bump the numbers that high.
“The highest sum is N900 million, which was requested by the kidnappers who abducted 13 residents in Piko community in Bwari LGA of Abuja on 5 May 2024”.
“Regarding ransom paid, however, kidnappers got only 5% of what they requested from residents in the FCT (N117.5 million). The highest ransom paid was N55 million in the Al-Kadriya family abduction in January 2024…”
The report which covers only kidnapping incidents across Nigeria between July 2023 and June 2024, revealed that N10.9 billion was paid in ransom to different terror groups in the country.
The report indicated that Zamfara precedes Kaduna with N32.7 million while the latter recorded ransom payments of N32.07 million. Others in the lead were Kogi with N28.6 million, Katsina N17.5, Benue N16 and Adamawa with N9.7 million.
In some states, the demands were slightly lower. Niger and Kwara states, both in the North-Central zone, each recorded N7 million ransom payments. Meanwhile, Jigawa, Plateau, and Yobe recorded ransom payments of N3 million, N600,000, and N400,000, respectively.
