This weekly update spotlights emerging trends of kidnap for ransom in the Niger Delta. Recent incidents indicate major changes in the trends and patterns of kidnap for ransom in the region. There has been a rise in cases of kidnapping with lengthy detention period and demand for huge ransoms, along with targeted kidnapping with relatively shorter detention period and lesser ransoms. In November 2023, for instance, kidnappers allegedly abducted a professor and demanded a ransom of 50 million naira in Calabar, the Cross River state capital. He was released 26 days later. Also, in November, a Catholic priest and his driver were reportedly abducted by kidnapers in Osu-Owerre community, in Isiala Mbano LGA, Imo State. He was released few days later, after a five hundred-thousand-naira ransom was paid. The kidnapper initially demanded a 50-million-naira ransom which was later reduced to 10 million naira, and eventually five hundred thousand naira. In a recent incident, on December 12, 2023, gunmen allegedly abducted a traditional ruler from his residence and killed his aide in Akpabuyo LGA, Cross River State.
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