I am not lying, Nigerians should trust me, no ransom was paid for dapchi girls— Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has denied claims that the Federal Government paid a ransom to get Dapchi schoolgirls released from Boko Haram's captivity.

 

Mohammed refuted the claim saying it's a mere conjecture without evidence to support its authenticity.

But months back we all recall that Boko haram released a video telling the federal governmnet to stop lying to the people that huge ransom was paid to them in exchange for the kidnapped girls; WHO IS LYING WHO? NIGERIANS ASK.

In a statement on Thursday, August 16, 2018, the minister said ”It is not enough to say that Nigeria paid a ransom, little or huge. There must be a conclusive evidence to support such claim.

“Without that, the claim remains what it is: a mere conjecture.”

However, a report submitted to the UN Security Council showed that a “large ransom” was paid to free the girls.




“In Nigeria, 111 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi were kidnapped
on 18 February 2018 and released by ISWAP on 21 March 2018 in exchange
for a large ransom payment,” the report stated.


The report said such ransom and the predominance of cash economy were enabling the insurgency around the Lake Chad region.




The UN report described as the 22nd Report of the Analytical Support
and Sanctions Monitoring Team related to Resolution 2368 (2017)
regarding Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – ISIL – (Da’esh),
Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities.




The report was signed by Edmund Fitton-Brown, Coordinator, Analytical
Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, who said the report was
“comprehensive and independent”, and Kairat Umarov, Chair, Security
Council Committee.




In its reaction to the report, the Nigerian government through the
information minister, said it stands by its statement that no ransom was
paid.




It described the UN report as a “mere conjecture.”

“It is not enough to say that Nigeria paid a ransom, little or huge.
There must be a conclusive evidence to support such claim. Without that,
the claim remains what it is: a mere conjecture,” the minister was
quoted as saying in a statement by his spokesperson, Segun Adeyemi.

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