The Federal Government has strongly denied recent media claims that it paid a ransom or released militants to free schoolchildren abducted from a boarding school in Niger State last year.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris, said the reports are “completely false and baseless” and harm the reputation of Nigeria’s security forces.
The claims surfaced from unnamed intelligence sources and were widely shared online.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no ransom was paid, and no militant commanders were freed,” the statement said.
It added that the allegations rely on information from secret sources rather than official records.
The government said the rescue of the pupils from St. Mary’s Boarding School in Papiri was carried out through professional intelligence work and careful planning by security agencies.
It called on journalists and media outlets to check facts before publishing stories that could encourage criminals or harm troop morale.
The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Department of State Services (DSS), and the National Assembly leadership have all publicly rejected the ransom claims.
The report also dismissed stories that ransom money was flown in by helicopter, calling them “fiction.”
Nigeria has faced several mass kidnappings in recent years, prompting security debates and public concern.
The abduction of the Niger schoolgirls also factored into the recent US involvement in Nigeria's security issues.
