The Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo on Friday declared that the federal government did not pay any money as ransom to secure the release of the Abuja-Kaduna train victims from terrorists.
He stated that the government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has zero tolerance for ransom payments.
OsunDaily News reports the Minister made the submission while speaking to journalists after the government on Wednesday announced the successful release of the remaining 23 abductees who had been in the custody of the terrorists since March when the Abuja-Kaduna train was attacked.
The terrorists had earlier released some others in batches before the final batch on Wednesday.
According to Sambo, though the details of how they were released is classified information because it’s a matter of national security, no single kobo was paid to the terrorists to secure the release of the victims.
He praised the dedication and hard work of the presidential committee that worked with the military, negotiated and secured the release.
He said; “In matters that involve national security and intelligence, it is not appropriate to review exactly what measures have been taken in order to secure release of hostages of this nature.
“It is the position of this government that under no circumstances should there be collateral damage.
“I want to state categorically that because this government does not support and approve of ransom payment, no kobo was paid in exchange for the release of these 23 hostages; indeed for the other ones as well.”
Resumption Of Rail Services
The Minister said both short-term and long-term measures are being implemented to ensure the safe return of the railways.
He said the short-term plans will enable rail services to resume while the long-term plans involve the safety of the people to forestall a re-occurrence.
“We have a short term and long term plan. The short term measures will be put in place very quickly to enable rail services commence,” he said.
“And beyond a period of three months, we would have put in place a sustainable plan that would ensure that our rail lines are safe and secure and people can travel on them with their minds and hearts assured of safety.”
This article was originally published on OsunDaily News
