RANSOM ON CHIBOK/DAPCHI SCHOOLGIRLS: Presidency replies CAN

The Presidency has responded to the claim by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on payment of ransom for the release of Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls.

CAN’s Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel was quoted to have said that “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.”

Samuel was reacting to the claim by President Muhammadu Buhari that 90 per cent victims of Boko Haram terrorists had been Muslims.

In its response to the claim by CAN’s director of legal and public affairs, the Presidency said the Christian body was wrong.

In a statement by Femi Adesina, Buhari’s spokesman, the Presidency said:

“We are again constrained to react to unfounded allegations by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) about the payment or non-payment of ransom for the release of the Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls.

“When the media in August 2018 quoted a United Nations Report alleging that the Federal Government paid a ‘huge ransom’ for the release of the abducted Dapchi schoolgirls on March 21, 2018, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, immediately disputed the report, insisting that no ransom was paid, ‘little or huge.’ According to the Minister, ‘There must be a conclusive evidence to support such a claim. Without that, the claim remains what it is – a mere conjecture.’

“And we ask, ‘Who should Nigerians or CAN rather believe, if there is good faith?

“We urge CAN to desist from disinformation which can further divide Nigerians. The letter and spirit of the Holy Bible do not support discord, which CAN’s allegations are liable to cause.

“The Christian body need not be antagonistic to every attempt by the administration to move Nigeria forward, before it can champion or defend the Christian faith.

“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 get the girls back.

“Notwithstanding our different faiths, we are all stakeholders in the promotion of peace in our fatherland. And the Holy Bible enjoins us to, “Seek peace, and pursue it.”

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Over 10 Dapchi schoolgirls in Yobe State were adopted by Boko Haram in 2018, one of them, Leah Sharibu, a Christian, who allegedly refused to convert to Islam is still in captivity.

The Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State were over 200 girls who were adopted in 2014, before Buhari became President.

Reports claimed many of them were Christians. Some have been rescued while several of them had remained in captivity.

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