SENATOR Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, has rejected allegations that he received ransom money or acted as an intermediary between the Federal Government and Boko Haram insurgents, insisting that he has consistently opposed negotiations with the terrorist group.
News Point Nigeria reports that Ndume made the clarification while responding to allegations by the President of the Borno South Youth Alliance, Samaila Kaigama, who accused him of acting as a mediator in negotiations involving the release of abducted residents of Ngoshe in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.
Kaigama had alleged that the Federal Government gave Ndume ₦5 billion to negotiate with Boko Haram, claiming that only ₦1.9 billion was eventually paid to the insurgents while the remaining balance was unaccounted for.
Speaking on Friday during an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Ndume dismissed the claims, saying he had never supported negotiations with Boko Haram or the payment of ransom to secure the release of abducted persons.
“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,” Ndume said.
The senator maintained that his position against ransom payments and negotiations with the insurgents had remained consistent over the years.
“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,” he said.
Responding to questions on previous reports of ransom payments involving Boko Haram, Ndume said he could not speak on behalf of the Federal Government, adding that several individuals who presented themselves as intermediaries had later been exposed as 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.
Ndume explained that while governments could sometimes engage individuals claiming to have access to insurgents, his personal position and involvement remained separate from such arrangements.
“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,” he stated.
The lawmaker said the Federal Government had already commenced investigations into Kaigama’s allegations, particularly the claims that he was appointed as a mediator and received ₦5 billion for negotiations with Boko Haram.
“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,” Ndume said.
He questioned the basis of Kaigama’s own involvement, asking who appointed him as an intermediary between himself and Boko Haram.
“In the first place, I don’t know who appoints mediator. Who appointed Kaigama as a mediator between himself and Boko Haram?” he asked.
The senator also recalled his own experience in 2011 when he was detained and prosecuted over alleged links to a suspected Boko Haram negotiator, saying the case was eventually dismissed after six years due to lack of evidence.
Ndume explained that the person linked to the case was later found not to be a Boko Haram member, but the allegations led to years of legal battles.
“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 said.
He added that the Department of State Services (DSS) had initially detained him while conducting investigations before eventually charging him to court.
“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 stated.
The Borno South senator said the appropriate response to Kaigama’s allegations was for him to provide evidence to support his claims, stressing that accusations of such magnitude must be backed by facts.