Kidnapped victims paid a total of ₦2,231,772,563,507 as ransom to secure their release from kidnappers’ dens between May 2023 and April 2024.
This was revealed in the latest Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and released on Tuesday.
The NBS report stated that during the period under review, an estimated 51,887,032 crime incidents were experienced by households nationwide.
Among households that reported kidnapping incidents, 65.0 percent paid a ransom, with an average payment of ₦2,670,693 per incident.
Of the total 51,887,032 crime incidents reported, the North-West recorded the highest number at 14,402,254, followed by the North-Central with 8,771,400. The South-East reported the least number of incidents, with 6,176,031.
The data also revealed that crime incidences were higher in rural areas, totaling 26,526,069, compared to 25,360,963 in urban areas.
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The NBS noted that 4,142,174 households in Nigeria experienced home robberies during the period. However, less than half (36.3 percent) of these households reported the incidents to the police.
The survey highlighted that the most common reasons for not reporting crimes were a lack of confidence in law enforcement and the belief that police intervention would be ineffective.
At the individual level, 21.4 percent of Nigerians reported being victims of crime, with phone theft being the most common crime, affecting 13.8 percent of individuals. While 90 percent of phone theft victims reported the incidents to the police, only 50 percent expressed satisfaction with the police response.
Nationwide, an estimated 1.4 million individuals experienced sexual offenses during the period, with the majority occurring in someone else’s home (27.7 percent) or the victim’s home (22.2 percent). Sexual offenses were least likely to occur at public transport stations (0.9 percent). Only 22.7 percent of sexual offense victims reported the incidents to the police.
Regarding public perception of safety, 9.6 percent of Nigerians believed they might become victims of crime in the next 12 months. This perception was higher in rural areas (13.0 percent) compared to urban areas (7.0 percent).
The report also noted that the average response time by security agencies to emergency calls was less than 30 minutes, with a national response rate of 33.1 percent.
“About 4 out of 10 households had at least one interaction with state or local security forces within the reference period. Additionally, 1 in 2 households had contact with the Nigerian Police, and 25.7 percent reported crime incidents to the police after experiencing them,” the report stated.
Satisfaction with police responses was notably low for specific crimes, such as livestock theft (42.9 percent) and crop theft (42.4 percent). In rural areas, many households relied on local vigilante groups for security.
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