The Nigerian government yesterday dismissed claims that it paid as much as a N2 billion ransom to secure the release of students of St. Mary’s School, Papiri, Niger State, describing the allegation as false and baseless.
In a statement issued in Abuja by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the government insisted that its longstanding policy against ransom payments remains unchanged.
The government, which was reacting to a report by AFP amid a backlash from the opposition, maintained that recent rescue operations were carried out through coordinated security interventions, intelligence gathering and inter-agency collaboration, and not financial inducements.
But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said any ransom payment by government actors, whether direct or through proxies, would be “shameful and troubling,” warning that such a move could legitimise criminality. The party called for full transparency on the circumstances surrounding the release of the victims.
Similarly, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) demanded a detailed briefing from security agencies, alleging that inconsistent communication from authorities was fuelling public suspicion. The party argued that even unverified reports of ransom payments risk sending a dangerous signal to armed groups operating across the country.
The controversy widened as members of the United States Congress have submitted a security brief to President Donald Trump, expressing concern over persistent attacks on Christians in parts of Nigeria and calling for stronger measures against armed groups, including factions described in the report as Fulani herdsmen militias. The lawmakers urged closer US monitoring of the crisis and pressed for initiatives aimed at disarming non-state actors.
The renewed international attention underscores the global dimension of Nigeria’s internal security challenges, particularly as kidnapping for ransom has evolved into a lucrative enterprise in several regions. Over the past decade, criminal gangs have targeted schools, highways, rural communities and even urban centres, exploiting gaps in policing capacity and local intelligence.
Picking holes in the AFP report, the government noted that the story revealed contradictions that expose its speculative character, presenting sharply conflicting accounts regarding the alleged ransom.
“The attention of the Federal Government of Nigeria has been drawn to a publication circulating in the media, attributed to international wire services, alleging that the Nigerian Government paid a ‘huge’ ransom, including the release of militant commanders, to secure the freedom of the school children abducted from St. Mary’s boarding school in Niger State.
“The federal government states that these allegations are completely false and baseless, and constitute a disservice to the professionalism and integrity of Nigeria’s security forces and the sacrifices they make daily.
“While we respect the freedom of the press, we firmly reject a narrative built on shadowy, unnamed sources seeking to undermine the credibility of a sovereign government acting within its laws. For the avoidance of doubt, no ransom was paid, and no militant commanders were freed,” the federal government maintained.
According to the statement, the allegations relied entirely on anonymous “intelligence sources” and individuals “familiar with the talks,” in contrast to the clear and on-the-record denials issued by constituted authorities. The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Department of State Services (DSS), and the leadership of the National Assembly, it stressed, have all publicly refuted claims of ransom payment.
The federal government stated that the report itself reveals contradictions that expose its speculative character, presenting sharply conflicting accounts regarding the alleged ransom.
Such inconsistency, it pointed out, underscores a lack of direct knowledge and undermines the credibility of the claims, explaining that the assertion that ransom was delivered by helicopter to insurgents, with cross-border confirmation of receipt, is fiction. “The DSS has formally dismissed this claim as fake and laughable,” it stated.
The Bola Tinubu-led administration emphasised: “Nigeria is confronting a structured, profit-driven criminal enterprise. The successful rescue of the pupils, without casualty, was the result of professional intelligence and operational precision.
“The federal government remains unwavering in its commitment to security and urges the media to verify facts before publishing speculative reports that risk emboldening criminals or undermining troop morale.”
But according to the AFP, the Nigerian government paid Boko Haram militants a “huge” ransom of millions of dollars to free up to 230 children and staff the jihadists abducted from a Catholic school in November, quoting intelligence sources.
Two Boko Haram commanders were also freed as part of the deal, which goes against the country’s own law banning payments to kidnappers. The money was flown on a helicopter to Boko Haram’s Gwoza stronghold in northeastern Borno state on the border with Cameroon and delivered to Ali Ngulde, a militant commander in the area, three sources told AFP.
Due to the lack of communications cover in the remote area, Ngulde had to cross into Cameroon to confirm delivery of the ransom before the first group of 100 children were released.
The decision to pay the jihadists, who sparked worldwide protests after they kidnapped 276 mostly Christian girls in Chibok in 2014, is also likely to irritate the US and President Donald Trump, who has cast himself as a defender of the country’s Christians.
Boko Haram has not been previously linked to the kidnapping, but sources told AFP one of its most feared commanders was behind the mass abduction.
The notorious jihadist known as Sadiku is also suspected of leading a spectacular 2022 gun and bomb attack on a train between the capital Abuja and Kaduna, which also netted hefty payments in ransoms for scores of well-off passengers that included bankers and government officials.
The St. Mary’s pupils and staff were freed after two weeks of negotiations led by Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), with the government insisting no ransom was paid.
However, four intelligence sources familiar with the talks told AFP the government paid a “huge” ransom to get the pupils back. One source put the total ransom at 40 million naira per head — around $7 million in total. Another put the figure lower at N2 billion overall.
Vincent Foucher, a specialist on Nigerian conflicts with France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, told AFP that he believes Sadiku was responsible after speaking with a source affiliated with the jihadists as well as a Nigerian government source. “It makes total sense, given Sadiku’s history,” Foucher said.
The country has long been plagued by mass abductions, with criminals and jihadist groups sometimes working together to extort millions from hostages’ families, and authorities seemingly powerless to stop them.
Laws criminalising payments have not stopped the “kidnapping epidemic”, with 828 abductions in the past year alone — many involving multiple victims — according to the US-based monitor Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).
The St. Mary’s mass abduction came amid reports that Sadiku’s faction has relocated from its stronghold in Shiroro, and needs funds amid the move, Foucher said. “Their task has always been to get money” for Boko Haram’s leadership in the northeast, he added.
As a part of the deal for the St. Mary’s children, sources said Boko Haram also demanded that the Nigerian military allow residents of Audu Fari village in the Borgu area to return home after they were driven out by troops.
Audu Fari served as a supply route for Sadiku and his fighters as well as a transit point for their families travelling to his camps from Boko Haram’s northeastern strongholds.
In 2022 Nigeria passed a law criminalising ransom payments, with jail sentences of up to 15 years.But individual Nigerians continue to pay to free relations while authorities look the other way.
The crisis has “consolidated into a structured, profit-seeking industry” that raised some $1.66 million between July 2024 and June 2025, according to a recent report by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy.
Armed groups and criminals have turned to kidnapping as a way to make quick cash in a country where millions live in poverty amid stifling inequality. In a kidnapping in Kaduna, where scores of Christian worshippers were taken last month, the local governor ruled out paying a ransom. The victims were later freed, but no details of the negotiations were made public.
Authorities have also paid ransoms to rescue other victims of mass abductions and high-profile hostages, security sources said. In December 2020 authorities in Katsina state paid N30 million (the equivalent of $78,000 at the time) for the release of 340 schoolchildren seized from a boarding school in Kankara town.
Bandit chief Awwalun Daudawa, who masterminded the attack, confirmed the payment in a leaked recording of a phone conversation with a go-between. AFP said the National Security Advisor Ribadu’s office insisted he has several times secured the release of victims from bandits with no money changing hands.
But an analyst in the kidnap-hit northwestern state of Zamfara — who asked not to be named — said “there is no way bandits can keep releasing people they kidnapped to the government without getting payment in return.
“The government is denying what we all know — that it pays ransom when schoolchildren and high-profile victims are involved,” he said.
In some cases, security personnel act as go-betweens in delivering ransoms to kidnappers, families of victims told AFP.
Abubakar Abdulkarim, who lives in Minna, told AFP he sought the help of security personnel to get $4,000 to the bandits who kidnapped his elder brother while he was working on his farm in Kontagora.
