The claim by the President of the Borno Youth Alliance, Samaila Kaigama, that Senator Ali Ndume was involved in the negotiation of N5bn ransom that was not delivered totally to kidnappers has drawn reaction from the Senator.
Kaigama had in a viral interview alleged that when residents of Ngoshe in Borno State were recently abducted, the kidnappers reached out to him demanding N5bn, and through Ndume he got in touch with the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA.
At the end, according to him, N5bn was released by the NSA Office but he learnt from the kidnappers that only N1.5b was given them.
Speaking on ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, Ndume pushed back at the youth leader’s narrative.
In his own account of what transpired the lawmaker declared that Kaigama contacted him over a video purportedly released by Boko Haram/ISWAP demanding a N5 billion ransom for the release of 416 abducted residents.
Elaborating further, he said upon receipt of the video, he immediately contacted the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Department of State Services (DSS), the military and other security agencies.
“On Eid-el-Kabir, Boko Haram invaded Ngoshe village in my local government and abducted 416 citizens. He contacted me to say that Boko Haram/ISWAP had issued a 72-hour ultimatum to pay a ransom of N5 billion.
“When I saw the video, I asked him, ‘Have you contacted the security agencies?’ I immediately reached out to the NSA, DSS and other relevant security agencies, including the military, and shared his contact with them,” he said.
The Senator claimed he deliberately stayed away from any discussion on ransom payments, saying, “He wanted to use me or come through me for the payment of ransom. I told him I didn’t want to be involved. The best I could do was to connect him with the appropriate authorities.”
He made bold to say the he has never directly or indirectly, acted as an intermediary between kidnappers and any government or private individuals.
He remarked that Kaigama’s allegation is a matter is of national security and called on security agencies to investigate it.
“This has become, or should be taken as, a serious national security matter, not a personal one. I spoke with the various security agencies, and they promised they are going to take action,” he said.
