KIDNAPPERS are turning Nigeria into a dangerous territory, forcing local and foreign investors into rethinking their continued commitments to Africa’s most populous nation.
Three manufacturing investors in Nigeria told Economy Post in camera they they had made enquiries on the possibility of setting up production plants in Ghana, Senegal and Ivory Coast while retaining operational offices in Nigeria.
A senior executive of one of the three investors, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the situation, said his firm had suffered huge losses from kidnapping and other violent crimes in Nigeria and was thinking of finding another location.
“Two of our staff members have been kidnapped at various times in the last three years. And this is in the course of our company’s assignments. Our company’s operations in the South-East have been interrupted a number of times by the Monday sit-at-home exercises and “unknown gunmen.”
“Before then, we had been in the North-East but our operations were abruptly ended when Boko Haram started many years ago. Right now, we are thinking of getting a better place in West Africa, where we can produce and export to Nigeria. Our best bets now are Ghana and Senegal,” the official, who works for a local agro processing company, said.Abuja kidnapped sisters after release Source: Yahoo.com
Another official, who works for a Lagos-based fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company but pleaded anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information, said her firm’s unsold inventory had been growing in the last two years due to an inability to penetrate some of its traditional markets.
“We can no longer move our products to certain parts of the North-West zone due to activities of banditry. Also, Mondays are useless in many parts of the South-East. Even in some parts of the North-Central such as Benue and Nasarawa, which is close to Abuja, we can’t move our products at certain times, otherwise our drivers will be attacked or kidnapped.
“We have found a place at Ivory Coast where we can produce and distribute. The place is not insecurity-free, but you can’t see the level of insecurity in Nigeria over there. Secondly, the government is ready to welcome us and do everything possible to retain us,” the official said.
Another official, whose company is a foreign investor operating in the FCMG space, said the company already had an operational office in Ghana but had now decided to resume production in the West African nation.
“We have been operating in Nigeria and Ghana, but what we want to do this year is to consolidate the Ghana office by starting some level of production there. Nigeria is certainly a big market but we think there are several challenges here, particularly in the area of logistics and insecurity. Once we start production in Ghana, we will gradually reduce our production activities in Lagos (Nigeria),” she said.
Insecurity worsening
Kidnapping and violent crimes have been on the upsurge in Africa’s most populous nation in recent times. In 2023, over 3,600 Nigerians were kidnapped, the highest in the country’s history, according to ACLED, a global aggregator of conflicts and violence.
In 2024, kidnapping has risen in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Economy Post had reported the kidnap of six sisters in the FCT in early days of 2024. One of the six sisters, identified as Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, was killed by the kidnappers, throwing the country into mourning.
The kidnappers had invaded the residence of the family in the Bwari area of Abuja and shot three police officers before kidnapping the sisters and their father. The kidnappers demanded N65 million ($81, 250) and threatened to unleash more mayhem if their demand was not met.
Another kidnap incident also occurred in the FCT on January 20 2023, with a man identified as Abdullahi Sabo being a victim.
Kidnappers also abducted several travellers on January 20 at the boundary between Ondo and Ekiti states.
Kidnapping is growing nationwide. According to SBM Intelligence, “Between July 2022 and June 2023, 3,620 people were abducted in 582 kidnap-related incidents in Nigeria and at least N5 billion ($6,410,256 as of 30 June 2023) were reported as ransom demands, while verified ransom payouts amounted to N302 million ($387,179), or six percent of what was demanded.”

Within the period, Zamfara reported highest kidnap incidents with 765 cases. It was followed by Kaduna and Niger, which had 690 and 468 cases respectively. Katsina and Sokoto states were next with 241 and 176 cases respectively, trailed by Kogi and Edo with 163 and 130 cases respectively. Other states not represented in the graph above had fewer than 10 cases of kidnapping within the period.
Low investments into Nigeria
Foreign investments into Nigeria fell by 36.5 percent to $654.7 million in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023 from $1.03 billion in the previous quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. It also fell year-on-year by 43.6 percent from $1.16 billion in Q3 of 2022.
This was the lowest in 11 years.
Local investments have risen, though only on literal terms. Manufacturing sector investment in naira value increased to N192.89 billion in the first half of 2023 from N178.39 billion recorded in the corresponding half of 2022, indicating N14.50 billion or 8.1 percent increase over the period.
However, when inflation and exchange rates are factored in, the investments within the period would be negative, according to an economist, Mr Adran Ojembe.
“There is a need for Nigeria to tackle insecurity issues. The news making the rounds about Nigeria is bad for investments. Security agencies must begin to deploy technology and NIM-SIM registration to tackle kidnapping and other violent crimes.
“Also, we need to tackle other issues affecting investments, including multiple taxation, poor infrastructure, bureaucracy, high energy costs, low purchasing power, and policy fluctuations,” he said.