The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has reported that the Federal Government paid Boko Haram insurgents two million euros for the release of 82 abducted Chibok girls.
According to BBC, sources said the girls were swapped with “high-level Boko Haram bomb-makers.”
Sources who spoke to the BBC on the condition of anonymity say the Boko Haram members “were accompanied by two million euros in cash.”
“Paying a ransom as well as swapping prisoners was a sticking point that almost unravelled the whole deal,” says the source “with detailed knowledge of the deal.”
“It should have happened sooner, but the president was hesitating about freeing the five – and especially about the money.”
Although unconfirmed, the source also claimed President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t want to pay the ransom.
“Persuading him was very, very difficult. It was the most difficult part of the whole negotiation,” the source added.
“The ransom was two million euros. Boko Haram asked for euros. They chose the suspects and they gave us the list of girls who would be freed.”
A negotiator who was part of the process had said only three Boko Haram terrorists were swapped in exchange for the girls.
