Nigerian govt paid €2m to Boko Haram for the release of 82 Chibok girls - BBC reports

Part of the negotiation that led to the recent release of the 82 Chibok schoolgirls from Boko Haram custody was the two million euros paid to the insurgent group, BBC reports.

Although Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, had said that there is no need to worry over the insurgents swapped with the girls, sources also told BBC that the girls were swapped with “high-level Boko Haram bomb-makers.”

The girls were freed after series of negotiations between the sect and the federal government.

With the remaining 113 girls yet to be released, they had been in Boko Haram custody since April, 2014, when they were kidnapped – alongside 81 others – from their school in Chibok, Borno state.

Details of the deal which led to their release has remained sketchy except for the known Boko Haram members swapped with the girls.

But sources who spoke to the BBC on the condition of anonymity say the Boko Haram members “were accompanied by two million euros in cash.”

The medium also quotes one of the sources to have said that the men are high ranking members of the sect.

“Paying a ransom as well as swapping prisoners was a sticking point that almost unravelled the whole deal,” says the source “with detailed knowledge of the deal.”

“It should have happened sooner, but the president was hesitating about freeing the five – and especially about the money.”

Although unconfirmed, the source also claimed President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t want to pay the ransom.

“Persuading him was very, very difficult. It was the most difficult part of the whole negotiation,” the source added.

“The ransom was two million euros. Boko Haram asked for euros. They chose the suspects and they gave us the list of girls who would be freed.”

Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity had, during the release of the 82 girls, happily announced that negotiations to release the girls have yielded results.

But Shehu didn’t hint on whether the sect was paid any ransom for the girls’ release.

“After lengthy negotiations, our security agencies have taken back these girls, in exchange for some Boko Haram suspects held by the authorities,” Shehu had said.