Senior Special Assistant to President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has stated that the ransom being paid by the relatives of abducted victims are a major contributor to terrorism in Nigeria.
While he was interviewed on Channels TV, Shehu stated that kidnapping would continue until Nigerians stop paying ransoms and allow the security agents to do their job.
He said, “You are mentioning all of these about kidnappers and the people that have been taken and the President even in his Sallah message mentioned an appeal he was making to fellow citizens to expose them (the criminals), tell the security agencies where they are and sometimes you also can sympathise with the family members in that highly emotive situation.
The priority for most of them is to get their family back and they are willing to pay, and they’ve paid and these payments, whether anybody likes it or not, will continue to fuel terrorism.