How one man is secretly helping families pay kidnappers to release their relatives.
A hostage negotiator has told the BBC that paying ransoms may be illegal, yet it is the only way families can guarantee the release of relatives kidnapped by the gangs terrorising swathes of northern Nigeria.
Sulaiman first became involved in negotiations with kidnappers, referred to locally as bandits, in 2021 - a year before the payment of ransoms became illegal in Nigeria. Competition for land and resources between cattle herders and farmers has also contributed to the problem. The kidnappers tend to be former herders from the Fulani ethnic group, who target villages where mainly Hausa farmers reside.
Around 30,000 bandits in more than 100 gangs operate in north-western Nigeria, according to the Centre for Democracy and Development - a think-tank based in the capital, Abuja. Sometimes the bandits request motorcycles as part of the ransom payment, as well as alcohol and cigarettes.
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