As the spate of kidnappings and killings continue to spiral out of control, investigations have shown that some Nigerians have been selling their lands, home and other prized valuables to secure the release of their loved ones, mostly children from the hands of their abductors.

After armed men snatched seven of Abubakar Adam’s 11 children in northwestern Nigeria, he sold his car and a parcel of land and cleaned out his savings to raise a ransom to free

He sent his 3 million naira ($7,300) into the bush, together with payments from other families in his town of Tegina. 

The kidnappers took the money, seized one of the men delivering it and sent back a new demand for more cash and six motorbikes.

“We are in agony,” the 40-year-old tyre repairman told Reuters, still waiting for any sign of what happened to his children three months after the mass abduction. Honestly I don’t have anything left.”