In an increasingly viral video, terrorists were seen displaying money that they have taken as ransom from their victims and posted on social media.

Popular security expert Zagazola Makama posted a series of tweets on his X handle that revealed the said money and the bandits.

The tweet read: “Audacity: Bandit on Tiktok flaunting and showing off ransom money he collected from his victims.

“The user of the account has 3000 followers, some of them are bandits who openly show off their rifle and dressed in military or police uniforms. 

“Tiktok platform has given room for insurgents to promote their campaign of terror without being restricted.”

A study on kidnapping in the nation, however, revealed that in 11 months between July 2022 and June 2023, no fewer than 3495 persons were taken captive in 582 kidnapping-related occurrences across the nation.

According to a research report by SBM Intelligence, at least N5 billion ($6,410,256 as of June 30, 2023) have been recorded as ransom demands; verifiable ransom payouts totaled N302 million ($387,179), or 6% of the total sum sought during the review period.

It was observed that kidnappers sometimes choose to demand non-monetary ransom in the form of food, particularly in the Northwest and North Central regions, which have shown a higher number of in-kind (non-monetary) ransom demands.

Additionally, it was noted that kidnapping patterns vary between individual and community cases, with secrecy being less common in larger-scale abductions.