Shekau, the Boko Haram leader, initially demanded N1 billion.

Boko Haram were paid N500 million ($3.15 million) to free seven French hostages kidnapped in February, a confidential document from the Nigerian government available to Reuters states.

The insurgent group kidnapped the French hostages in Cameroon on February 19 near Wasa National Park in Northern Cameroon, which borders North-Eastern Nigeria.

The hostages, a family of seven including four children, are believed to have been brought into Borno State after the kidnap. They were released two months after the kidnap on April 19.

The document, according to Reuters, did not state who paid the ransom although French and Cameroonian authorities denied that any ransom was paid.

The Negotiations

Apart from the money the insurgents were paid, the document states, Cameroonian authorities also released some Boko Haram suspects in detention as part of the deal.

The sect had threatened, in a video released on YouTube in March, to kill the hostages unless Nigeria and Cameroon release some of its members in custody.

The report also states that Abubakar Shekau, the sect’s leader had asked for N1 billion to free the hostages but finally accepted half of the money, after agreeing to the release of his members in Cameroonian jails as part of the deal.

French President, Francois Hollande, denied that any ransom was paid when the hostages were released, same as Cameroonian authorities. No one has, however, said what got the insurgents to release the hostages.

Boko Haram is blamed for killings of several hundreds of people in Northern Nigeria and has claimed responsibility for several attacks.

Efforts to get the federal government to react to the report were unsuccessful. The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, and his spokesperson, Joseph Mutah, could not be reached as their telephone numbers were not reachable on Friday evening.

The spokespersons to the Nigerian President, Reuben Abati and Doyin Okupe, did not pick or return calls to their phone as at press time.

According to Reuters, the report suggests that the ransom was paid because officials did not want to endanger the lives of the hostages in a rescue attempt; after a rescue attempt last year March to save a Briton and an Italian hostage kidnapped by another Nigerian sect, Ansaru, led to the death of the hostages.

A rich Boko Haram

Apart from waging a war against the Nigerian Government, Christians and Muslims opposed to his terrorist acts, Boko Haram has also delved into kidnapping for ransom, largely to finance its operations.

Apart from kidnapping for ransom, the group also robs banks in Northern Nigeria to finance its operations.

PREMIUM TIMES had also exclusively reported how a security report sent to the Nigerian Presidency last year showed that Boko Haram got N40 million from an Algerian terrorist sect as part of a long term international terrorism collaboration.

Related posts:

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/131575-boko-haram-got-n500mn-to-free-french-hostages-report.html






smh.....

Labaran number won't be available lai lai...Tell me how Boko Haram will Jestison this multi billion business adventure for a meagre amnesty...never!

Wait oo! Is all my degrees and certificates all waste?

Hehehe!
Fùcking kidnappers!

I suspected this all along...will ordinary negotiation swerve the blood thirsty Boko Haram?

One of those stories reporters concoct to Whip up sentiment.we all know that it took them 2months to Release the victims. Can negotiation last thatt long. French govt don't pay ransome and they discouraged the nigerian govt from doing same, knowing that if ransome was paid, this will necessitate d kidnaap of more french nationals. And more ransome will be paid
Secondly, the spokesman of boko haaram released a statement recently claiming that d release was to demostrate their willingness to embrace the amnesty.
Let's not fall cheaply for propaganda. Why was the document not published. We know that this days media platforms publish such documents to support claim. This story falls short of requirement and must be discarded

mehn! dis biko eediots sha!

Idokojimmy: One of those stories reporters concoct to Whip up sentiment.we all know that it took them 2months to Release the victims. Can negotiation last thatt long. French govt don't pay ransome and they discouraged the nigerian govt from doing same, knowing that if ransome was paid, this will necessitate d kidnaap of more french nationals. And more ransome will be paid
Secondly, the spokesman of boko haaram released a statement recently claiming that d release was to demostrate their willingness to embrace the amnesty.
Let's not fall cheaply for propaganda. Why was the document not published. We know that this days media platforms publish such documents to support claim. This story falls short of requirement and must be discarded

Must everything be propaganda or is propaganda the new standard marching word Ashole Rock just equipped you people with?

I wonder why d nigerian govt'll choose to continue 2glorify terorists. seems lik violence is now bcomin d most lucrativ business in nigeria. chai! na wa oh!

The report also states that Abubakar Shekau, the sect’s leader had asked for N1 billion to free the hostages but finally accepted half of the money, after agreeing to the release of his members in Cameroonian jails as part of the deal.

Let me see any riff-raff that would limit kidnapping exclusively to a particular group.

Unfortunately, this story is true.

[size=20pt]Nigerian Islamists got $3.15 million to free French hostages: document[/size]

By Tim Cocks

LAGOS | Fri Apr 26, 2013 12:44pm EDT

(Reuters) - Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram was paid an equivalent of around $3.15 million by French and Cameroonian negotiators before freeing seven French hostages this month, a confidential Nigerian government report obtained by Reuters said.

The memo does not say who paid the ransom for the family of seven, who were all released on April 19, although it says Cameroon freed some Boko Haram detainees as part of the deal.

France and Cameroon reiterated denials that any ransom was paid. Nigerian authorities declined to comment.

Armed men on motorcycles snatched Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife, brother and the couple's four young children, the youngest of whom was four years old, on February 19 while they were on holiday near the Waza national park in north Cameroon, some 10 km (six miles) from the Nigerian border. They were believed to have been held in northeast Nigeria.

Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed the capture of the family of Moulin-Fournier, who worked in Cameroon for French utility firm GDF Suez.

French President Francois Hollande at the time denied any money was paid when the family was released on April 19.

The Nigerian report suggests that 1.6 billion CFA francs ($3.15 million) was paid, but that right up until the last minute Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had insisted on double that, before agreeing to reduce it if some Boko Haram members in Cameroonian jails were freed.

Reacting to the report, a French foreign ministry official said that France has passed a clear message that it does not pay ransoms. Cameroon government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said "Cameroon did not pay any ransom".

A spokesman for Nigeria's government declined to comment.

The report suggests Nigerian security forces decided not to try to rescue the hostages so as not to endanger their lives. A botched rescue attempt of a British and an Italian hostage believed to have been held by Islamist sect Ansaru in March last year resulted in both hostages being killed.

French news network i-tele reported earlier on Friday that a ransom had of $7 million had been paid, suggesting either Cameroon President Paul Biya or GDF-Suez had paid it.

Eight French hostages are being held in the Sahel region, although the fate of one of them is unclear after al-Qaeda's north African arm last month said it had beheaded Philippe Verdon.

Hollande has said Paris has ended a policy of paying ransoms for hostages, but suspicion that the country still does despite official denials has been a source of tension with the United States.

France brushed off an allegation by a former U.S. diplomat that it paid a $17 million ransom in vain for the release of four hostages abducted in 2010 from Niger.

Hollande told the family of the Sahel hostages in January that the new policy also meant that he had told companies and insurance firms to not pay ransoms.

($1 = 504 CFA francs) (Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris and Tansa Musa in Yaounde; Editing by Michael Roddy)http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/26/us-france-hostages-idUSBRE93P10320130426

The French don't care if they are financing terrorists.

As long as Boko Haram is only killing black people, they are happy.