Nigeria: $18 million 'paid to kidnappers'

Lagos-based risk analysis firm SBM Intelligence has estimated that over the past ten years, $18 million has been paid to criminals in Nigeria – in order to recover people kidnapped for ransom. The scourge of kidnapping is on the increase in the country, with dozens of people abducted from a mosque in Katsina State this week.

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(Photo: A protest in Kaduna calling for the rescue of kidnapped students; Credit: Getty Images)