The presidency on Wednesday re-asserted President Muhammadu Buhari’s willingness to pay a ransom if that is what it takes to bring back home the remaining schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from Chibok in April 2014.
Faulting the position of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which had alleged that ransom was not paid to free the girls because 80 to 90 percent of them are Christians, a statement issued by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), said: “President Muhammadu Buhari made it very clear in 2015 that if ransom needed to be paid to free the Chibok schoolgirls, he would pay. That is a testament to his commitment to getting the girls back.”
The presidency, which said it was constrained to react to unfounded allegations about the payment or non-payment of ransom for the release of the Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls, recalled media reports attributed to CAN’s Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel, in which he was quoted to have said inter alia: “Nigerians need to know if they have not known the reason why the Presidency could not pay ransom to rescue Chibok girls. It is because 80% to 90% of the girls are Christians. The reason why Dapchi girls’ ransom was quickly paid and they were returned is the discovery that most of the girls were Muslims except Leah Sharibu who is still in captivity.”
