The Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, has said that no ransom was paid for the release of the abducted Kankara schoolboys in Katsina State and the Dapchi schoolgirls in Yobe State.
He said this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Saturday while explaining some of the government’s strategies to curb the rate of abductions in the country.
The minister said:
All these stories about ransom, are conspiracy theories.
His comments come days after another abduction of students in Kagara, Niger State, was executed.
Recall that 27 students, three staff and family members of Government Science College Kagara, Rafi Local Government Area of the state, were abducted by gunmen on Wednesday.
One student was reported to have died after he was hit by a bullet.
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According to emerging reports, the Federal Government paid the sum of 800 million Naira to the abductors in order to secure the release of the students and staff of Government Science College Kagara, the same amount reportedly paid to the abductors of Kankara boys in Katsina.
The news of the ransom, said to have been paid to the abductors, has drawn wide condemnation from Nigerians on Saturday.
According a cross section of Nigerians, the Federal Government failed to address the needs of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), thereby forcing the body to embark on a nine-month strike which crippled academic activities but was quick to grant the demands of the terrorists.
They further accused the Federal Government of encouraging terrorism by negotiation with terrorists who are supposed to be behind bar.
