By Alté Jay, YeyeNews.com, October 31, 2021
Just months after the Federal Government of Nigeria denied paying N800m ransom to bandits for release of the abducted Kagara College students, a source who is not happy with the lenient way bandits are being treated by security agencies told YeyeNews.com that the Federal Government considered a move to include ransom for kidnapped victims in the 2022 national budget.
The source revealed that President Buhari believes negotiating with bandits might not be such a bad idea after all, especially when it is the lives of innocent Nigerian citizens at stake. He also believes the bandits have built a strong network for themselves and are smarter than we think, which is why it would be unrealistic to cancel the idea of negotiating with them because the efforts and various strategies employed by the Nigerian Army and Police to contain banditry, fight insurgency, and kidnapping might not always be successful, and so it would be wise to budget for such times.
Interestingly, the amount of money planned to be allocated for this part of the budget was about one billion naira. Buhari, however, believes funding would not be a problem, and if Nigeria were to be in need of capital for this budget, they could easily borrow from China. “The lives of Nigerians must be protected no matter what it takes,” the source quoted Buhari.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who was present at the dinner where this was discuused, was quick to concur with the President’s idea, and suggested that a committee should be set up immediately for the proper planning of this budget.
