Nigeria: Government denies it paid ransom money to Boko Haram militants

The Nigerian government has denied it gave ransom money to free dozens of children and staff taken from a catholic school by Boko Haram jihadists.

The kidnapping occurred back in November in north-central Niger state.

It was one of the country’s largest mass abductions Nigeria’s government made the comments in response to an AFP investigation released on Tuesday stating that the government funnelled a ‘huge’ ransom of millions of dollars to the jihadist group.

According to the report, the government also freed two commanders from the jihadist group.

Nigeria’s information minister insisted that the student’s release was due to ‘professional intelligence and operational precision’.

"The Federal Government states that these allegations are completely false and baseless, and constitute a disservice to the professionalism and integrity of Nigeria’s security forces and the sacrifices they make daily," he added.