A report compiled by security consultancy SBM Intelligence indicates that kidnappers in Nigeria have collected at least N7.78 billion in ransom payments between July 2025 and June 2026. The report estimated that 7,825 people were abducted across the country during the period, representing a 66 per cent increase from the previous year. It also recorded at least 1,142 deaths linked to kidnapping incidents. The findings, which were compiled by SBM from media reports, interviews, and...

 After spending three weeks in captivity, 48 children aged between seven and 12, kidnapped in Niger State, have been released after payment of ransom, according to a traditional ruler, the UN. The bandits specialized in kidnapping and cattle rustling, targeting rural communities in northwest and central Nigeria, looting homes, and imposing levies on mining sites and farmland. Abdullahi Sahonrami, the traditional chief in Mashegu district, who confirmed the release of the abducted children, said on...

Two civilians were killed and two police officers seriously injured after suspected political thugs attacked a police patrol team along the Ibadan-Ife Expressway in Ikire, Osun State. The attack occurred at about 11 a.m. on Monday, August 24, when officers attached to the Ikire Divisional Police Headquarters, accompanied by the Divisional Police Officer, responded to a distress call over the alleged abduction of a man identified as Sunkanmi. According to the Osun State Police Command,...

…Warns those providing information to insurgents Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa state has vowed that anyone found providing information to insurgents will face the full wrath of the law. Governor Fintiri, who gave the warning on Tuesday in Hong while handing over 40 motorcycles to support security operations in the Hong Local Government Area, said that intelligence gathered by security agencies indicated that some individuals were leaking security information to insurgents. Fintiri, therefore, called...

The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Borno State Command, has raised the alarm over the escape of an inmate from the Maximum-Security Custodial Centre in Maiduguri. The command, in a statement issued in Maiduguri, urged residents to remain vigilant and assist security agencies in locating the escapee. The Public Relations Officer of the command, AB Thliza, said the name “JOHN ISEARL” appeared on the inmate’s prison uniform, according to the statement and accompanying material released by...

The Osun State Police Command has arrested Abiola Ibrahim, a member of the state House of Assembly, over an alleged attempt to mobilise about 300 people from outside the state to vote in the governorship election. Ibrahim, who represents the Irewole/Isokan constituency and is a member of the Accord Party, was arrested on Friday night alongside a group of people reportedly found at his residence in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area. Police said more than...