Ali Ndume, senator representing Borno south, has rejected allegations that he received ransom or acted as an intermediary between the federal government and Boko Haram, insisting that he has consistently opposed negotiating with the terrorist group.
The lawmaker was responding to allegations by Samaila Kaigama, president of the Borno South Youth Alliance, who accused him of acting as a mediator in negotiations involving abducted residents of Ngoshe in Gwoza LGA of Borno state.
Kaigama had alleged that the federal government gave Ndume N5 billion to negotiate with the insurgents, claiming that only N1.9 billion was eventually paid to Boko Haram while the balance was unaccounted for.
Speaking on Friday during an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Ndume said he had always opposed negotiating with Boko Haram or paying ransom to secure release of abductees.
“Let me state this here, that I, up to now, and even in the future, do not support negotiating with Boko Haram or paying any ransom,” he said.
“That has been my position ab initio, way, way back. Even during Buhari’s regime, when negotiation was going on on prisoner exchange or whatever they called it, and the ransom was paid to them, I was totally against it. I have been against.”
Asked about reports of ransom payments in previous cases, Ndume said he could not speak for the government, adding that several people who claimed to be intermediaries had turned out to be fraudsters.
“Those cases that you mentioned, I know, way back, have turned out to be fraudulent. In fact, two or three of them are in jail. One has been jailed. A female has been jailed in Borno. A male is under custody, and the other one is under investigation,” he said.
“Because government can be, you know, maybe compromising sometimes by agreeing to a payment of ransom or somebody that claims to be mediator. But what I’m saying is about myself. I’m not supposed to speak for the government.”
Ndume said the federal government is already investigating Kaigama’s allegations.
“The government is doing its own investigation now because he has accused the government of giving me money or appointing me as the mediator or giving me N5 billion and only N1.9 billion was received by Boko Haram,” he said.
“In the first place, I don’t know who appoints mediator. Who appointed Kaigama as a mediator between himself and Boko Haram?”
The senator also recalled that he was detained and prosecuted in 2011 over alleged links to a purported Boko Haram negotiator, saying the case was eventually dismissed after six years because there was no evidence against him.
“Because I remember, in my case, in 2011, when a purported… because the person turns out not to be Boko Haram, actually. And I went to court for six years. Six years, I was… in fact, about one and a half months, I was under detention,” he stated.
“Because DSS claimed that they were doing investigation. And then they took me to court. For six years, there was no evidence. And then they threw out the case.”
Ndume said inviting Kaigama to substantiate his allegations is the appropriate course of action.
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