FG paid 2million euros for release of Chibok girls – BBC source
– Fresh facts have emerged on how the federal government succeeded in securing the release of 82 Chibok girls last week
– A source quoted by the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) said the government parted with money to free the girls
– The terror group was reportedly paid 2 million euros to get the girls freed
A report by the BBC has revealed that the federal government of Nigeria paid 2 million euros to Boko Haram to secure the release of the 82 Chibok girls who regained their freedom last week. This is addition to the five Boko Haram commanders who were also released in exchange for the girls.
The BBC noted that: “The release of the 82 came with a price… the details of the deal are sketchy. But they report that five senior Boko Haram militants were moved from a high security unit to be driven to freedom.
“Sources don’t want to be named and their version of events is hard to confirm, but they say the men were high level Boko Haram bomb makers, and that they were accompanied by two million euros in cash. Governments rarely admit to paying a ransom, and this claim could not be independently verified.”
The medium also quotes one of the sources to have said that the men are high ranking members of the sect.
“Paying a ransom as well as swapping prisoners was a sticking point that almost unravelled the whole deal,” says the source.
“It should have happened sooner, but the president was hesitating about freeing the five – and especially about the money.” Although unconfirmed, the source also claimed President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t want to pay the ransom. “Persuading him was very, very difficult.
It was the most difficult part of the whole negotiation,” the source added. “The ransom was two million euros. Boko Haram asked for euros. They chose the suspects and they gave us the list of girls who would be freed.
” The girls have reunited with their friends and will meet with their parents later
Meanwhile, parents of the 82 Chibok girls recently freed have arrived in Abuja to reunite with the girls. Already, the 21 Chibok girls who were released by Boko Haram in October 2016 have reunited with 82 of their colleagues.
