Early last month, Nigeria’s government announced the largest single-day hostage rescue in its history, with the freeing of 300 people who had been taken in raids in two north central states. Celebrations were short-lived. Barely a fortnight later, gunmen abducted up to 600 worshippers from a mosque in Niger state. Nigerians paid kidnappers nearly $6m in ransoms in the year to June, according to a new report from the Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence – more than triple the total in the previous 12-month period. More than 7,800 people were abducted, a two-thirds increase, and more than 1,100 killed, including almost 900 civilians.

When Boko Haram abducted almost 300 schoolgirls from their school in Chibok, Borno state in 2014, it made headlines worldwide. Yet around 45 children, mostly aged between two and five, remain missing after they were snatched from schools in Mussa, in north-eastern Borno state, in May. There is growing concern that kidnappings may be........

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