The arrival of a senior United States Treasury official in Abuja to strengthen cooperation on countering terrorist financing has coincided with allegations that the Federal Government paid millions of dollars to Boko Haram to secure the release of abducted schoolchildren.
Jonathan Burke, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, is in Nigeria for talks focused on disrupting illicit financial flows linked to extremist groups.
However, intelligence sources told AFP that during negotiations over the November 21 abduction of pupils and staff of St Mary’s boarding school in Niger State, the government allegedly handed over a “huge” ransom running into millions of dollars to the insurgents.
Two commanders of Boko Haram were also reportedly freed as part of the arrangement.
Nigeria’s law prohibits ransom payments to kidnappers.
According to three intelligence sources, the money was flown by helicopter to the group’s stronghold in Gwoza, Borno State, near the border with Cameroon. It was allegedly delivered to a militant commander identified as Ali Ngulde.
The sources said that owing to poor communications coverage in the remote area, Ngulde crossed into Cameroon to confirm receipt of the ransom before the first batch of 100 children was released.
