The Nigerian government has denied claims it paid a “huge” ransom to Islamist militants so as to secure the discharge of over 200 students and staff kidnapped from a Catholic school last November.
The release of the last of the captives, who were taken from St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state, got here just before Christmas Day. At the time a presidential aide said a “military-intelligence driven operation” had led to the discharge of the prisoners.
A report by AFP this week contained claims from intelligence sources near the matter who alleged that the Nigerian government could have paid as much as seven million dollars to Boko Haram and agreed to the discharge of two of the group’s commanders.
Nigeria’s information minister, Mohammed Idris, said AFP’s claims were “completely false and baseless”. According to the BBC, Idris said such claims represented a “disservice to the professionalism and integrity” of Nigeria’s security forces.
Nigeria’s security forces have often been criticised for his or her inability to cope with militant attacks. Church leaders have spoken of the forces being entirely absent, even when advance warning is given of attacks. On one other occasion the safety forces were in a position to stave off a militant attack in a single location, while being unable to forestall militants from burning, killing and plundering in one other.
Last November, in recognition of the continuing violence, which disproportionately impacts Christians, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu announced a nationwide state of emergency and a doubling of the police forces.
The US has taken a keen interest within the situation of Christians in Nigeria, with Donald Trump ordering airstrikes on Christmas Day against militant camps within the north of the country. A recent proposal by the US House Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Affairs suggested a stronger partnership between Nigeria and the US to defeat the militants.
The proposal suggested withholding aid from Nigeria if serious steps to guard Christian communities weren’t taken, and the facilitation of arms sales to Nigeria. Excluding Russian and Chinese influence from Nigeria was also a stated aim of the proposed policy.
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