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A single faction of Boko Haram collected 90% of all ransom money paid to kidnappers across Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026, according to a new report by SBM Intelligence, in a finding that suggests the country’s kidnap-for-ransom crisis has been effectively captured by a designated terrorist organisation.

The report, titled The Capture of Nigeria’s Kidnap Economy, found that of ₦7.779 billion ($5.78 million) paid in ransom nationwide during the period, the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad (JAS) faction of Boko Haram and its allied cells took ₦7.0015 billion from just eight recorded incidents.

“Attributing each ransom to the actor named in its reporting, the JAS faction and its allied cells account for N7.0 billion of the N7.779 billion paid around the country, a staggering 90% of all ransom collected in Nigeria this year, from just a handful of incidents,” the report stated.

By contrast, the entire diffuse population of bandits and unaffiliated kidnappers, responsible for 146 separate cases, collected only ₦719.4 million between them, or 9.2% of the national total.

Two abductions, ₦7 billion

SBM Intelligence traced almost the entire national ransom bill to two mass abductions carried out months apart.

In April 2026, a faction reportedly commanded by one Ali Ngulde abducted 416 people from Ngoshe in Gwoza, Borno State, issuing a 72-hour ultimatum for ₦5 billion. The report said the full amount was paid, the largest single ransom SBM has ever recorded.

Months earlier, in November 2025, gunmen abducted 315 pupils and staff from St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, in what the report called “one of the worst mass abductions in the country’s history.” Multiple intelligence sources cited in the report put the ransom paid at ₦2 billion.

“Together, these two incidents account for N7 billion and explain almost the entire national ransom bill,” the report said.

A “bumper harvest” for terrorism

The report described the shift as a structural change in how Nigeria’s kidnap industry now functions, warning that a “designated terrorist organisation is no longer merely participating in the kidnap economy; in ransom terms, it is the kidnap economy.”

It drew a sharp contrast between the economics of ideologically-driven mass abduction and everyday criminal kidnapping. Bandits and unaffiliated kidnappers, the report found, demanded ₦13.492 billion across 146 cases but collected only 5.3% of it. JAS, meanwhile, demanded ₦9.205 billion and collected 76.1% of what it asked for.

“Measured by what was demanded, the kidnap economy is a crime of the many. Measured by what was actually paid, it is dominated by a single terrorist organisation,” the report said.

It added that this concentration carries strategic consequences beyond the immediate cash figures: “For a designated terrorist organisation to collect N7 billion in a single year is hardly the criminal-justice failure that it may appear to be, because, on the contrary, it is a material transfer of resources to an insurgency, one that buys weapons, pays fighters and sustains the very campaign that produces the next round of abductions.”

A record-setting demand

The report noted that 2026 marked the first year in the life of the annual series that the highest amount demanded in a single incident and the highest amount actually paid were identical, the ₦5 billion Ngoshe ransom.

“In every prior year, a wide gulf separated the boldest demand from the largest settlement; and the fact that the two now coincide is the clearest possible signal of a counterparty with the leverage to be paid exactly what it asks,” the report said, attributing that leverage to a group “holding hundreds of hostages, and willing to kill.”

Inversion of the naira-dollar trend

The report also flagged a break from the pattern of recent years, in which ransom sums in naira climbed while their dollar value stagnated due to currency devaluation.

In 2026, the naira strengthened even as the ransom total rose, meaning the dollar value of ransom paid, approximately $5.7 million, more than tripled from the previous cycle’s $1.66 million.

Call for action on financial flows

SBM Intelligence argued that the concentration of ransom proceeds in the hands of a single armed group changes the calculus for how the crisis should be addressed, calling for action to disrupt the financing rather than treat kidnapping purely as a policing problem.

“Breaking this cycle demands two actions: disrupting the financial flows that now underwrite insurgency, and addressing the economic desperation that supplies its foot soldiers,” the report concluded. “Without a coordinated strategy that targets both the profitability of the crime and its roots, Nigeria risks entrencing kidnapping not merely as a criminal industry but as a funding mechanism for the very groups that most threaten its stability.”

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Emmanuel Ugboaja, the fifth General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the first Nigerian lawyer to work full-time for a trade union, has died after a protracted illness.

NLC President Joe Ajaero announced Ugboaja’s passing by reading a letter from his family to members of the Congress National Executive Council meeting in Enugu. Details surrounding his death remained sketchy at the time of filing.

Born May 15, 1966, Ugboaja obtained a law degree from the University of Calabar in 1987 before entering the trade union movement in 1993. He served as General Secretary of NUCFRLANMPE from 2000 to 2005, participated in constitutional reform conferences under Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan, and was appointed NLC General Secretary in August 2019 following a competitive selection process ratified at the NEC meeting in Kano.

His death leaves a significant void in Nigeria’s organised labour movement.

Vanguard

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The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other sister agencies, has commenced a sustained special enforcement operation against traffic light violations, driving against traffic and other road offences across Abuja.

The Mandate Secretary, FCTA Transportation Secretariat, Mr Chinedum Elechi, disclosed this on Thursday during a special joint intervention press conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital.

The Secretary who said that Taskforce to that effect will start patrol and arrest perpetrators added that offenders would face the full weight of the law.

Elechi said the enforcement exercise was necessitated by increasing disregard for traffic rules by some motorists, particularly following the expansion of the FCT road network under the urban renewal programme of the administration of the FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike.

He said the FCTA was particularly pleased with the collaboration with the FCT Sector Command of the FRSC and other relevant agencies, describing the initiative as a major step towards restoring sanity to the territory’s traffic management system.

“We are extremely happy to have this special collaboration with the Sector Command of the FCT. I think this is the first time that we’re having this kind of collaboration,” Elechi said.

He added that the joint efforts of the FCT Security Department, Traffic Control Department, FRSC and other agencies would make the future of traffic management in Abuja brighter.

According to him, the FCT Administration’s massive urban renewal programme, which includes the expansion of existing road networks and construction of new roads, has improved mobility and connectivity but also created new traffic management challenges.

“With some drivers taking advantage of the improved road infrastructure to disregard traffic rules and regulations,” he said.

Elechi listed the major targets of the enforcement exercise to include disregard for traffic lights and other traffic control devices, route violations and unauthorised use of restricted routes, including driving against traffic, illegal parking on major roads and at junctions, under bridges and on pedestrian crossings.

He warned motorists and commercial transport operators to obey traffic rules, use designated routes and park only in approved areas.

The Mandate Secretary said the exercise would be sustained, stressing that apprehended offenders would face appropriate sanctions under relevant national and FCT traffic regulations.

He said the enforcement would also include mandatory medical and psychological evaluation where applicable, in line with the National Road Traffic Regulations 2012 and the FCT Road Traffic Regulations.

“Offenders will have to face the full weight of the law when they involve in the dangerous exercise of driving against traffic or breaking traffic lights,” Elechi said.

He, however, stressed that the exercise was not intended to harass law-abiding motorists but to promote safer roads, smoother traffic flow and protect lives and property.

Making his remarks, the FCT Sector Commander of the FRSC, FCT Command, Corps Commander Tijjani Iliyasu, said the command was concerned about the rising cases of excessive overloading, traffic light violations, route violations, driving against traffic and indiscriminate parking.

Iliyasu said the offences contributed significantly to traffic congestion, obstructed the free movement of vehicles and endangered the lives and property of road users.

He said the situation required sustained enforcement, public enlightenment and cooperation among relevant stakeholders.

The FRSC Sector Commander disclosed that offenders apprehended for applicable offences, particularly excessive overloading, traffic light violations and route violations, including driving against traffic, would henceforth undergo prescribed medical and psychological evaluation before prosecution.

He cited Regulation 176, Sub-regulation 5 of the amended National Road Traffic Regulation 2012, which, according to him, mandates persons suspected of committing applicable offences to undergo medical and psychological evaluation at an approved government hospital before prosecution at their own expense.

Iliyasu said the measure was aimed at addressing dangerous driving behaviour and promoting responsible road use, insisting that it was not designed to intimidate or harass members of the public.

He urged motorists to obey traffic lights, road signs and markings, refrain from overloading vehicles, avoid driving against traffic and use only authorised routes.

He also advised road users to avoid indiscriminate parking and activities that obstruct traffic flow, while using designated motor parks, bus stops and approved loading and dropping points.

The FRSC commander further urged motorists to comply with directives issued by accredited traffic management and enforcement personnel and exercise patience, discipline and courtesy, particularly during peak traffic periods.

“Always remember that time saved by risking a life is not worth it,” he cautioned.

Iliyasu assured residents that the FRSC FCT Sector Command would continue to adopt a coordinated approach involving enforcement, public education, stakeholder engagement, engineering interventions and inter-agency collaboration to improve road safety and traffic management in Abuja.

“Our message is simple: obey traffic regulations, respect other road users, and make safety a personal responsibility,” he said.

The joint enforcement exercise, the officials said, is expected to continue across strategic locations in the FCT as the authorities intensify efforts to reduce traffic violations, improve vehicular movement and safeguard lives and property.