It’s Foolish For Jonathan, Buhari Govt To Pay Ransom To Kidnapppers – Obasanjo

• “Government has always paid ransom. Not only this government, even during Jonathan”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and that of his predecessor under Goodluck Jonathan are dishonest and disingenuous on the handling of insecurity in the country, especially as it regards kidnapping and abduction.

The country has witnessed an inexorable rise in  mass abductions, with students being the victims in recent times, while some of the abducted students are killed in captivity others are released after payment of ransom to their abductor.

However, there have been back and forth among stakeholders on the propriety or otherwise of paying ransom to kidnappers, while some have thrown their weight behind payment of ransom, noting that desperate times call for desperate measures, others have kicked against it arguing that such move will further embolden and strengthen the kidnappers.

Speaking on Wednesday when he played host to members of the Tiv Professionals Group (TPG) in Abeokuta, Ogun state, Obasanjo said the federal government — including the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan — paid ransom to rescue kidnapped persons but denied it.

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He, however, said the issue of kidnapping must be addressed with carrot-and-stick approach, adding that payment of ransom encourages the crime.

He noted that anyone who believed that payment of ransom would address the issue of kidnapping must be living in fool’s paradise.

“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,” he said.

“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.

“Government has always paid ransom. Not only this government, even during Jonathan. They paid ransom but they denied it.”