Nigeria Paid Ransom to Boko Haram to Free Kidnapped School Children — Intelligence Sources

Top Nigerian intelligence informants have revealed that the federal government paid a substantial ransom running into millions of dollars to secure the release of up to 230 students and staff abducted by Boko Haram from a Catholic boarding school in November. The payment was allegedly part of negotiations with the jihadist group, in a move that contradicts Nigeria’s strict laws forbidding ransom payments to kidnappers.

According to multiple informants, the payment was delivered by helicopter to the insurgents’ stronghold in Gwoza, northeastern Borno State, on the edge of Cameroon. The funds were handed over to Ali Ngulde, a local Boko Haram commander, in exchange for the freedom of the captives. Due to the remote location and limited communication network, Ngulde had to cross into Cameroonian territory to confirm receipt before the first group of about 100 children were released.

This approach — paying militants to secure the release of victims — is likely to draw criticism from the United States, especially from former President Donald Trump, who has positioned himself as an advocate for persecuted Christian communities in Nigeria, particularly after the high‑profile 2014 abduction of 276 mainly Christian schoolgirls in Chibok.

Despite persistent denials by Nigerian officials that any ransom was paid to the armed group responsible for abducting nearly 300 individuals from St. Mary’s boarding school in Papiri, Niger State, sources confirmed the payment’s existence to AFP. Following the abduction on November 21, at least 50 students managed to flee their captors on their own.

Although Boko Haram had not previously been linked to this particular mass kidnapping, intelligence sources stated that a highly feared commander was involved. Known as Sadiku, this militant leader is also believed to have directed a dramatic 2022 attack on a train travelling between Abuja and Kaduna, in which wealthy passengers — including bankers and government officials — were abducted and released only after ransoms were delivered.

Negotiations lasting two weeks and overseen by Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, yielded the release of the St. Mary’s pupils and staff. Government spokespeople have continued to assert that no ransom was paid; however, four intelligence sources familiar with the dialogue confirmed that a “huge ransom” was indeed paid to secure the hostages’ freedom.

One source estimated the ransom at 40 million naira per person, amounting to roughly $7 million overall, while another source cited a slightly lower total of two billion naira. The National Security Adviser’s office has not responded to multiple requests for comment, while the State Security Service has insisted that official agents do not pay ransoms — though it acknowledged privately that families are free to negotiate independently for their relatives’ release.

Boko Haram, which has waged a terrifying insurgency since 2009, holds its strongest presence in northeastern Nigeria, but a faction is also active in central Niger State under Sadiku’s leadership. Intelligence officials claim the captives were held in a camp located in the Borgu Local Government Area, some 370 kilometres from the state capital of Minna.

Conflict researcher Vincent Foucher from France’s National Centre for Scientific Research told AFP that, based on conversations with sources connected to both the insurgents and the Nigerian government, he believes Sadiku was behind the mass kidnapping. “It makes total sense, given Sadiku’s history,” Foucher said.

Diplomatic Tensions and Broader Security Context

The St. Mary’s abduction unfolded amid escalating diplomatic tensions, particularly after then‑U.S. President Donald Trump publicly accused Nigeria of widespread Christian persecution — a claim rejected by analysts and many Nigerian authorities who point to a complex network of overlapping security challenges across religious and regional lines.

In December, U.S. forces conducted strikes in northwest Nigeria targeting Islamic State affiliates — an operation the United States described as killing “multiple militants.”

However, critics say such characterizations oversimplify Nigeria’s very complex security crisis, where mass abductions are increasingly carried out by both extremist and criminal networks operating in concert to extort large ransoms.

According to the U.S.‑based conflict monitor Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), Nigeria recorded 828 kidnapping incidents in the past year, surpassing the totals for both Mexico and Colombia combined. Many of these incidents involved groups of multiple victims taken simultaneously. Senior ACLED Africa analyst Ladd Serwat noted that only neighbouring Cameroon and crisis‑plagued Myanmar recorded more kidnapping events.

Foucher explained that Sadiku’s faction appears to have shifted its base from Shiroro, requiring new sources of funding amid the relocation. “Their main objective has always been to generate money for Boko Haram’s senior leadership,” he added.

Terms of the Deal and Broader Kidnapping Economy

As part of the agreement to release the St. Mary’s captives, Boko Haram reportedly demanded that the Nigerian military allow displaced residents of Audu Fari village in Borgu to return home after being forced out by troops. Audu Fari served both as a supply corridor for Sadiku’s fighters and a transit point for their families travelling between his camp and Boko Haram’s northeastern strongholds.

Despite Nigeria’s 2022 law criminalising ransom payments with penalties of up to 15 years’ imprisonment, families and intermediaries continue to facilitate payments, leading authorities to often turn a blind eye. Analysts say the crisis has evolved into a structured, profit‑driven kidnapping industry, generating an estimated $1.66 million between July 2024 and June 2025, according to SBM Intelligence, a Lagos‑based consultancy.

Poverty and stark inequality in Nigeria have encouraged armed groups and criminal rings to prioritise kidnapping as a revenue source. In one recent abduction in Kaduna, where dozens of Christian worshippers were seized, local authorities explicitly ruled out ransom payments. The captives were eventually freed, but the details of the negotiations were not made public.

There are other documented cases where authorities have facilitated ransom deliveries to rescue abducted victims. In December 2020, officials in Katsina State paid 30 million naira for the release of 340 school children seized in Kankara Town, a payment confirmed by bandit leader Awwalun Daudawa during a leaked conversation.

Meanwhile, Ribadu’s office maintains that he has successfully brokered releases in numerous cases without any exchange of money.

Role of Intermediaries and Family Pressure

While spokespeople for state security officials have dismissed reports that ransom payments were airlifted by helicopter, some local analysts argue that such denials contradict observable realities on the ground. One security source described the helicopter ransom story as “almost unimaginable” and “fallacious.”

Still, voices from Nigeria’s northwest kidnapping hotspot of Zamfara State say that kidnappers rarely release hostages without payment. “The government is denying what we all know — that payments are made when schoolchildren and prominent victims are involved,” said an analyst who requested anonymity.

In many cases, security personnel act as intermediaries in delivering ransom funds. Families often rely on connections with officials to coordinate negotiations with captors. For example, Abubakar Abdulkarim of Minna shared how he sought help from security agents to provide $4,000 to the bandits who abducted his older brother while farming in Kontagora.

Relatives who cannot afford demanded ransoms frequently resort to public fundraising. One recent campaign featured a traditional leader from southwestern Nigeria displayed in full regalia, with an online appeal launched to raise $11,400 to satisfy his kidnappers’ demands.