Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the federal government — including the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan — paid ransom to rescue kidnapped persons.
The country has recorded a series of mass abductions, with students being the victims in recent times. While the kidnappers often demand ransom for the release of the abductees, several stakeholders have differed on whether they (kidnappers) should be negotiated with and paid ransom or not.
Speaking on Wednesday when he played host to members of the Tiv Professionals Group (TPG) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obasanjo said governments have been paying the ransom but denied it.
He, however, said the issue of kidnapping must be addressed with a carrot-and-stick approach, adding that payment of ransom encourages the crime.
He added that if ransom will not be paid, the situation has to be dealt with using other methods.
“Some people are still reaching out, and hoping that lives can still be saved. But a situation whereby anybody thinks paying a ransom is the way out, that person is folly. He is a folly,” he said.
“This is because when you pay the ransom, you encourage. But if you are not going to pay the ransom, you must have the means to deal heavily with it. You must have the stick to deal with it.
“Government has always paid a ransom. Not only this government, even during Jonathan. They paid the ransom but they denied it.”
