President Muhammadu Buhari and his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan, at various times paid ransoms to kidnappers, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said on Wednesday.
Obasanjo spoke while hosting members of Tiv professionals Group (TPG) at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Wednesday.
“Government has always paid ransom. Not only this government, even during Jonathan (administration). They paid ransom, but they deny it,” he said.
He said not just the Buhari government but that of Jonathan negotiated with kidnappers, though they deny doing so.
The former leader urged government to develop a means to deal with kidnappers and bandits as against ransom payment.
He also government must adopt “carrots and stick” approach in fighting insecurity to a standstill.
“Some people are still reaching out, and hoping that lives can still be saved. But a situation whereby anybody thinks paying ransom is the way out, that person is folly. He is a folly. This is because when you pay ransom, you encourage. But if you are not going to pay ransom, you must have the means to deal heavily with it. You must have the stick to deal with it,” Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo has reportedly facilitated the release of the 27 students taken away from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State.
