Train hostages: Nigerian govt dismisses claims on payment of ransom to terrorists

The Minister of Transport, Mua’zu Sambo, on Friday, dismissed claims that the Federal Government paid a ransom to secure the release of the remaining 23 passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train.

The hostages were released on Wednesday after spending about 200 days in the terrorists’ den.

There were insinuations that the federal government paid ransom to the terrorists to secure the release of the passengers.

The terrorists had earlier released 98 victims of the March 28 after collecting ransom from their families.

The minister, who addressed journalists in Abuja, rejected the claims, saying President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has zero tolerance for ransom payments.

He said: “No kobo was paid in exchange for the release of the final 23 captives and other prisoners.

“In matters that involve national security and intelligence, it is not appropriate to review exactly what measures have been taken in order to secure the release of hostages of this nature.

READ ALSO: CAN commends Nigerian govt over release of remaining 23 Kaduna train passengers

“It is the position of this government that under no circumstances should there be collateral damage.

“The military and security organizations in charge of ensuring the release of these hostages should not take any actions that imperil the hostages’ lives.

“Secondly, there is a committee made up of some retired generals and some retired public officers of high ranking and status who assisted the military and security agencies throughout the process of securing the release of these hostages.

“I want to state categorically, that because this government does not support and approve of ransom payment, no kobo was paid in exchange for the release of these 23 hostages, indeed for the other ones as well.”

Sambo said plans were underway to resume the train services following the release of the hostages.

“In order to resume train services, we have to put in place measures that will ensure that going forward such an incident will never happen again in this country.

“We have a short-term and long-term plan. The short-term measures will be put in place very quickly to enable rail services to commence.

“And, beyond a period of three months, we would have put in place a sustainable plan that would ensure that our rail lines are safe and secure and people can travel on them with their minds and hearts assured of safety,” the minister added.

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