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The Nigerian government reportedly delivered millions of dollars by helicopter to Boko Haram militants in Gwoza, Borno state, to secure the release of 230 children and staff abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic school last year in November, intelligence sources told AFP.
According to three sources familiar with the negotiations, the funds were flown directly into the insurgents’ stronghold in northeastern Nigeria, near the border with Cameroon, and handed to a militant commander identified as Ali Ngulde.
Limited communications in the remote area reportedly forced Ngulde to cross into Cameroon to confirm receipt of the payment before the first group of 100 children was released.
The abduction, which occurred on November 21 in Papiri, Niger state, involved nearly 300 pupils and staff.
At least 50 later escaped, while the remainder were freed after two weeks of talks led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
Four intelligence sources told AFP that two Boko Haram commanders were also released as part of the arrangement.
One source estimated the total payout at 40 million naira per captive, roughly $7 million, while another put the figure at about two billion naira overall.
Officials from the National Security Adviser’s office and Nigeria’s State Security Service denied that any ransom was paid, stating that “government agents don’t pay ransoms.”
The notion that a helicopter dropped the ransom for the St. Mary’s students was rejected as “fake news” by another state security spokesperson.
“Let’s be rational about this. This is a fallacy. It’s laughable. It’s almost unimaginable,” they said.
However, a spokesperson stated that no one can prevent a family from paying if they wish to release their relatives.
Nigeria passed a law in 2022 that made paying ransom illegal and carried a maximum 15-year jail sentence.
Boko Haram, which has waged an insurgency since 2009, has not previously been linked to the kidnappings.
Sources told AFP that a commander known as Sadiku orchestrated the St. Mary’s abduction.
Sadiku is also suspected of leading a 2022 gun and bomb attack on a train between Abuja and Kaduna, which generated ransoms from wealthy passengers.
His gang kept the children in a camp in the Borgu local government area, 370 kilometres from the state capital, Minna, intelligence sources said.
After speaking with both a Nigerian government source and a jihadist source, Vincent Foucher, an expert on Nigerian conflicts at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, told AFP that he thinks Sadiku is to blame.
The kidnapping, according to Foucher, was consistent with Sadiku’s history of ransom-driven operations.
“It makes total sense, given Sadiku’s history,” Foucher said.
Sources also said Boko Haram demanded that the Nigerian military allow residents of Audu Fari village in Borgu to return home as part of the agreement.
The village serves as a supply route and transit point for militants travelling to camps in the northeast.
Foucher said Sadiku’s faction may have relocated from its stronghold in Shiroro, prompting a need for funds.
“Their task has always been to get money” for Boko Haram’s leadership in the northeast, he added.
