Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has stated that some Nigerians are now staging their own kidnappings, sometimes using artificial intelligence to clone their voices, in order to extort ransom money from their families.
Speaking on the country’s security situation, Ribadu said that in addition to criminal gangs, security agencies have uncovered cases where individuals conspire with friends to fake their own abductions.
He warned that this trend undermines genuine security efforts and erodes public trust, as families struggle to know if a ransom demand is real.
These claims come as law enforcement has investigated several real-world cases, including a woman who allegedly faked her kidnapping to extort ₦2.5 million from her husband and a schoolboy who staged an abduction for a ₦1.7 million ransom.
Ribadu has repeatedly urged the public to stop paying ransoms, arguing that it fuels both real and fabricated kidnappings.
However, Ribadu’s leadership has faced criticism, with former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai accusing the NSA’s office of paying and supplying terrorists under the guise of a “non-kinetic” security strategy, a claim Ribadu’s office has strongly denied as “false and baseless”.
Meanwhile, some groups have called for Ribadu’s suspension over the nation’s deteriorating security, citing widespread kidnappings and attacks.
