…as households experience 51.9m attacks
A new report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey 2024, shows that Nigerians paid the sum of ₦2,231,772,563,507 as ransom to kidnappers between January and November 2024.
The Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) which provides an in-depth understanding into the situation of crime in Nigeria also said that Nigerian households experienced a total of 51,887,032 crime incidents during the period.
Among households that experienced kidnapping incidents, 65 per cent of them paid a ransom, the report said, adding that the average amount paid as ransom was ₦2,670,693, with an estimated total ransom of ₦2,231,772,563,507 paid within the reference period.
Accordingto the report, 4,142,174 households experiencing home robbery. Of that number, less than half, just about 36.3 per cent of the households who were victims of home robbery reported their experience to the police.
The report also shows that the North-West reported the highest incidents with a record 14,402,254 cases, followed by the North-Central with 8,771,400, North East with 7.9 million cases, South South with 7.7 million and South West with 6.9 million, while the South-East reported the least with 6.2 million.
Nigeria has been under heavy insecurity for a period of over 12 years following the activities of insurgents in the North West which later spread to other parts of the North with hundreds of school children kidnapped and communities sacked completely giving rise to many internally displaced persons (IDP) camps scattered in different parts of the north.
According to the 2023 Global Peace Index, Nigeria ranked 144 out of 163 countries in terms of insecurity. Nigeria is also ranked second after South Africa on the list of countries with the highest crime rate in Africa in 2024, as published by Statistica.
This high crime rate in the country has been blamed as one of the major contributors to the rising cost of living in the country, especially food prices because farmers have been unable to access their farms due to fear of being kidnapped or killed by bandits.
Many firms have shut down while prospective investors have declined invitations to come to the country due to insecurity, thus swelling the already overflowing unemployment market and denying the country much needed foreign direct investment (FDI).