October 18, 2021 
The Nigerian Air Force has denied a report by the Wall Street Journal that it paid N20m as ransom to bandits in exchange for an anti-aircraft gun seized from the Nigerian Army.
The Wall Street Journal said in a report on Sunday that the NAF brokered the deal as President Buhari was planning a trip to Katsina, his home state.
The US media outlet said N20 million was delivered to the bandits in Rugu Forest by a Nigerian Air Force officer, who leaked details of the operation under anonymity, because the military realised that it would be too risky to leave the weapon in the hands of violent criminals operating in an area the presidential jet would fly over.
The rugged, lawless jungle that covers parts of Kaduna, Zamfara and the President’s home state of Katsina has served as a vast haven for bandits terrorising Nigeria’s northwestern communities. A large portion of kidnapping plots emanates or terminates in or around the forest, security agencies had previously warned.
“The mission to buy back the anti-aircraft gun began with a handoff from a high-ranking air force intelligence officer in the capital Abuja: a black zip-up bag he said was full of 20 million Nigerian naira,” the paper reported, after stating that such military hardware in the hands of bandits “posed a threat to President Muhammadu Buhari, who had been planning to fly to his hometown about 80 miles away.”
It’s a lie, says air force
But the Nigerian Air Force denied making such payment to bandits in exchange for weapons.
In a statement on Sunday by the spokesperson, Air Commodore, Edward Gabkwet, said there was no truth in the report.
-Punch
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