Business Daily – “Kidnapping for ransom”

Host: Ed Butler, BBC World Service
Air date: March 11, 2026

Overview

This episode of Business Daily investigates the alarming global rise of kidnapping for ransom as a criminal business—an industry inflicting deep economic and emotional wounds on its victims. Focusing on hotspots in West Africa and Latin America, the episode explores the methods used by kidnappers, the way the crime is spreading, the victims’ harrowing experiences, and expert advice on minimizing harm and negotiating ransoms. The episode also highlights transnational trends, evolving tactics, and ongoing shortcomings in law enforcement and prevention.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Human Cost: First-Hand Victim Testimony

• Ibrahim, a livestock herder in eastern Ghana, recounts his abduction for ransom. The psychological and financial trauma suffered by victims and their families is a central thread.
  • [01:24] Ibrahim: “He don't know them. He's so, so afraid. He's so, so afraid.”
  • [08:24] “He have animals and he's not a wealthy man… [kidnappers asked] how much will you give us? …they told him that he should give them 15,000 Ghana cedis. If he didn’t afford that money, they should kill him.”
  • [09:23] “He sell lot of animals before getting that money. Since he come back, he's even working footed. He's not even buy motorbike because no resources to take care of the house. The animals that he sells leave him with nothing.”

2. Scale and Spread of the Crisis

• Massive numbers: Around 20,000 kidnappings in Nigeria in six years; the issue is now spilling into Ghana and Benin.
• Driven initially by Islamist violence in northern Nigeria, but increasingly a “free for all amongst all kinds of criminal gangs.”
  • [01:48] Jeremy Douglas, UN Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC): “It's definitely accelerating, globalizing... We have also technologically driven kidnapping and extortion in Asia at the moment.”
  • [03:09] Ed Butler: “Making Nigeria a global hotspot.”
  • [03:28] Flora Berger, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime: “It kind of has spread first to the border with Benin, spreading also into Ghana.”

3. Changing Tactics and Criminal Networks

• Target selection: Kidnappers increasingly target wealthy livestock owners, businesspeople, and sometimes community members, using inside information.
  • [03:48] Flora Berger: “They have started recruiting younger member of their community in other countries… we'll often hear of young individual who will... be involved in the kidnapping of a member of his own community and often related to livestock and cattle.”
• Transnational methods: Borders are exploited for hiding victims and conducting negotiations.
  • [05:29] Berger: “It's extremely easy to cross the border... keep the hostages in these foresty areas. Definitely using the border as... a way to hide.”

4. Economics of Kidnapping

• Ransom demands: Range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of US dollars, depending on perceived victim wealth.
  • [04:35] Berger: “For the wealthy cattle owners, it can be hundreds of thousands of Ghanaian cedis... tens of thousands of US dollars.”
• Negotiation process: Victims’ families sometimes end up selling everything they own.
• Payments: Increasingly made in local currencies, but sometimes involve cross-border transfers, including cryptocurrency.
  • [17:36] Jeremy Douglas: “There's also a lot of cross border transfers of cryptocurrencies that take place, which makes it much easier for criminal groups, frankly.”

5. Expert Advice: Negotiating a Ransom

(Carlos Seoani, Kidnap Negotiator based in Mexico)

• Professional help is essential.
  • [12:07] Seoani: “Get professional help… you need crisis management skills and knowledge in order to serve through those storms.”
• Negotiation strategies:
  • Do not accept first demands:
    [13:34] Seoani: “Establish credibility… The bad guy say, we want $2 million. Okay, I have your $2 million. No resistance, no bargaining… Now I want five. So you just bought the victim in captivity an extra week.”
  • Always bargain down:
    [15:20] Seoani: “Between 10 and 20% [of original demand].”
  • Take your time:
    [14:06] “Don’t pay fast. You need to say, I don’t have it, but I’m gonna do my best effort… break down the bad guys’ expectancies.”
  • Plan settlements stepwise:
    [14:31] “You have to go from 15 to 10 to 7 to 3 to, to 1... the well is dried.”
• Return rates:
  • [15:45] Seoani: “...only one person didn’t return... Over more than two decades and close to 200 cases, one person didn’t return.”
  • [16:43] “Usually, as I told you, kidnapped victims return worldwide... around 94, 95%.”

6. Challenges in Prevention and Law Enforcement

• Lack of trust in authorities:
  • [11:27] Ed Butler (about Ibrahim): “He didn’t report the case to the police because he says nomadic Fulani tribesmen like him are routinely victimized by the authorities.”
• Shortcomings & innovations:
  • [17:36] Jeremy Douglas: “We train on online investigations... And it’s also very much these days about the financial investigations because the money transfers can be much more sophisticated.”
  • No "silver bullet":
    [18:44] Douglas: “There’s no silver bullet. But those things are really not being done in many, many parts of the world. There’s very little from the preventive side, very little on the mitigation side.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:24] Ibrahim (Victim):
  “He's so, so afraid. He's so, so afraid.”

• [08:24] Ibrahim:
  “They told him that he should give them 15,000 Ghana cedis. If he didn’t afford that money, they should kill him.”

• [12:07] Carlos Seoani (Negotiator):
  “Get professional help. Doesn't matter if it's private, if it's public. ...you need crisis management skills and knowledge in order to survive through those storms.”

• [13:34] Seoani:
  “Establish credibility.”

• [14:06] Seoani:
  “Don’t pay fast. If you say it will take me a long time, that is a very tough assignment. You didn’t say no. So you need to say, I don’t have it, but I’m gonna do my best effort...”

• [15:20] Seoani:
  “Between 10 and 20% [of the original ransom is typically paid].”

• [18:44] Jeremy Douglas (UNODC):
  “There’s no silver bullet. ...Fundamentally, people are putting themselves in positions to be potentially kidnapped and then therefore extorted.”

• [19:34] Ibrahim (After return):
  “The life now is so, so hard because since they recall him back, it's not only him. Entire house doesn't have peace of mind about sleeping. And he still so, so scared about them because sometimes they do call him again.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:24] — Introduction & victim’s story (Ibrahim)
• [03:28] — Growth & spread of kidnapping rings in West Africa (Flora Berger)
• [07:17] — First-hand account: abduction and ransom negotiations (Ibrahim)
• [11:27] — Life after kidnapping and mistrust of authorities (Ibrahim)
• [12:07] — Strategies for negotiating kidnappings (Carlos Seoani)
• [17:36] — Global response and challenges for governments (Jeremy Douglas)
• [19:34] — Lasting impacts: emotional and economic aftermath for survivors (Ibrahim)

Conclusion

This sober episode lays bare the business of kidnapping for ransom, highlighting both its rapid expansion and the crushing consequences for families and communities. Expert voices underline that careful, professional negotiation can save lives and money, but the need for improved prevention and robust law enforcement is urgent. Victims like Ibrahim are left with lasting trauma and economic ruin, even after surviving their ordeal—a grim reminder of the crime’s far-reaching effects.