Again, Nigeria government denies paying ransom to free Chibok girls

The presidency has denied that the government paid ransom to free the 21 Chibok girls released by Boko Haram last month.

In a statement on Saturday evening, Mr. Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the government has “no such money under any allocation to pay out this outrageous sum of money as ransom.”

The presidency’s reaction comes a few hours after the Nigerian military issued a similar rebuttal to media reports that $21 million ransom was paid.

The 21 girls were among the over 200 kidnapped by the Boko Haram in April 2014. The others are still being held by the terrorists whose insurgency has caused the death of over 20,000 people and displacement of millions of others since 2009.

Mr. Shehu also used to statement to highlight the administration’s successes against Boko Haram.

“As at the time he came into power, Boko Haram occupied 80 per cent of Borno State, 40 per cent of Yobe, and a significant segment of Adamawa,” he said.