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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. Ikemesit Effiong is Head Of Research at the company, and explains how they arrived at the figure, acknowledging that it’s probably an underestimate.

(Photo: Families of kidnapped students hold a protest in Kaduna.; Credit: Getty Images)