Borno State Government has dismissed reports alleging that ransom was paid to secure the release of 360 abductees rescued from the Mandara Mountains, a known terrorist stronghold in the southern part of the state.
Gatekeepers News reports that the government’s position was stated by the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Usman Tar, during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday.
The clarification comes a day after Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) announced the rescue of the victims from a Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) enclave.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Acting Media Information Officer of OPHK, Lieutenant Colonel Haruna Sani, said the operation was carried out by Special Forces and troops of Sector 1 following weeks of intelligence gathering, covert reconnaissance and meticulous operational planning.
According to him, the rescued victims, comprising men, women and children, had been held under harsh conditions after being abducted from several communities, particularly around the Ngoshe axis.
Addressing claims that ransom was paid before the victims were released, Tar insisted that the operation was a military rescue mission backed by intelligence support from the Department of State Services (DSS).
“Who paid the ransom? And the ransom was paid to who? Where is the evidence?” he queried.
“We are the operatives on the ground. There was no ransom payment. There was a daring military operation with intelligence support from the DSS that led to the rescue of the 360 citizens. That is the fact on the ground. If there are any counter facts, then you can pursue that.”
The commissioner also argued that the Boko Haram insurgency has evolved beyond its original ideological roots into a criminal enterprise driven largely by kidnapping and other illicit activities.
“The Boko Haram insurgency started as a result of the ideological mindset of a few individuals who started the campaigns,” he said.
“But those individuals have gone. The Boko Haram insurgency has since transmuted into a big business. So that is what is going on right now. And there is no other explanation.”
Tar maintained that, regardless of differing public interpretations of the insurgency, the state government views members of the group as criminals bent on terrorising communities.
“As far as we are concerned, we are dealing with criminals, who are out to vandalise, criminalise and terrorise our people, and we are not going to rest on our oars,” he said.
