- 614, 937 Nigerians killed, 2,235,954 kidnapped May 2023/April 2024 – NBS
As many as 614, 937 Nigerians were killed and 2,235,954 others kidnapped within the country between May 2023 and April 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.
The NBS disclosed this, 17 December, 2024, in its report, ‘The Crime Experienced and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024’, based on surveys conducted between May 2023 and April 2024, reports Daily Trust.
The report said that N2.2tn was paid as ransom, averaging N2.7mn per kidnap incident.
Murder rate was highest in rural areas with 335,827 cases, and 279,110 in urban areas, the NBS further disclosed. This indicates that the poor were most affected as they had no special security cover as do the rich and powerful who reside mostly in high brow urban centres.
A break down per geo-zones shows that the North West witnessed the highest murder cases (206,030), the North East (188,992); and the South West (15,693).
Furthermore, seven in 10 households reported murder cases to the police, with 33% households saying that the suspected murderers were unknown, and 23.4% confirming that the suspected killers were household members; while 1.0 % reported that the murderers were either spouses or lovers.
The NBS revealed that 1,668,104 persons were kidnapped in rural areas and 567,850 in urban areas, with the North West witnessing the highest cases of 1,420,307; North Central (317,837), and South-East (110,432).
It added that 82.1% of kidnappees were released, 12.8 % killed, 3.3% still in captivity, while 1.3% could not be accounted for.
The report said that of estimated ransom of N2.2tn payments to free victims, “the North West reported the highest ransom paid with N1.2 trillion; while the South East was the least with N85.4 billion. Disaggregated by zones, the North Central reported the highest proportion of payment of ransom at 83.4 per cent, followed by North East at 78.6 per cent.
“Households in urban areas paid an average of N3.7 million compared to N2.3 million in rural areas.”
In addition, the report went further saying that about 91% of kidnap attacks were done for ransom in the form of money, goods or other benefits.
“While 2.4 per cent of cases were attributed to political, criminal, or terrorist objectives; 2.1 per cent were linked to personal or family disputes. Custody disputes accounted for 0.5 per cent of cases,” the report said.
The NBS also revealed that of 1,587,363 motor vehicle thefts within the period under review, the North West recorded the highest (603,756), North Central (246,329) and South West had the least (140,144).
“Further disaggregation by place of residence shows that rural areas had the highest with 887,002 while urban areas recorded the least with 700,361. Nationally, among households that experienced theft of motor vehicles, 57.6 per cent reported to the police”, it said.
The NBS added that Nigerians were paying for their security with a national average of N80,878 within the study period.
“Disaggregation by zones shows that the South East reported the highest average amount at N135,398, followed by North Central at N103,476 and the South West, N34,408.
“Analysis by place of residence revealed that urban households spent more money on security measures (N86, 997) than rural households (N72,849)”, it said.
The report said individuals who visited Automated Teller Machine (ATM) points reported the highest feelings of unsafety at 31.7%, followed by public transport with 29.1%a nd religious places, 7%.
