N7B Paid in Ransoms Could Have Built 35 Schools, 5 Hospitals in Borno, Analysis Shows

Our Staff Reporter

The N7 billion paid in ransom to terrorists in the last one year is equivalent to 5.2 percent of Borno State’s education budget and 10.5 percent of its health budget, and could have funded dozens of schools, hospitals and thousands of scholarships, a quick analysis shows.

The figure comes after a new report released by SBM (https://www.sbmintel.com/reports) revealed that the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, JAS faction of Boko Haram, collected N7 billion from just two mass abductions the seizure of 416 people in Ngoshe, Borno and 315 pupils and staff in Papiri, Niger State.

That amount represents 90 percent of all ransom paid in Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026.

In Borno, where years of insurgency have destroyed infrastructure and displaced millions, that single sum could have delivered major investments.

With N7 billion, the state could realistically build or fully equip 20 to 35 new primary and secondary schools depending on design and location, or rehabilitate 60 to 100 damaged schools with classrooms, roofs and WASH facilities.

It could also fund scholarships for 15,000 to 25,000 students for one year, assuming N280,000 to N450,000 per student for tuition, materials and stipends, or recruit and pay 1,200 to 1,800 additional teachers for one year at an average cost of N320,000 to N480,000 per month including allowances.

On the health side, the same N7 billion could complete and equip 3 to 5 medium-sized general hospitals or specialist clinics.

It could fully equip 15 to 25 primary healthcare centres with essential drugs, basic lab equipment, solar power and maternity kits.

The amount could also procure essential medicines and consumables for all public Primary Health Care centres for 6 to 9 months, or be used to scale up immunization, maternal and child health programs across several LGAs.

For context, the state allocated only N234 million to immunization in 2025, meaning N7 billion could expand that several-fold.

The comparison highlights the scale of money now flowing out of the formal economy and into insurgent groups.

SBM Intelligence’s report found that while bandits and criminal gangs demanded N13.5 billion in the same period, they collected only N719 million, a 5.3 percent rate.

JAS demanded N9.2 billion and collected N7 billion, a 76 percent collection rate.

“Measured by what was demanded, the kidnap economy is a crime of the many. Measured by what was actually paid, it is dominated by a single terrorist organisation,” the SBM report stated.

Borno remains one of the states worst hit by abductions and attacks.

The Ngoshe abduction alone, which triggered the N5 billion payment, involved 416 captives.

Policy analysts say the figures underscore the need to disrupt ransom financing and redirect resources to critical services in frontline states. Without that, they warn, kidnapping risks becoming entrenched as a funding mechanism for insurgency rather than just a criminal enterprise.

Data sources: SBM Intelligence Kidnap Report 2026, Borno State 2025 Budget Estimates

Please follow and like us:

20