by Omoleye Omoruyi

In an interview published on Vanguard on Sunday, Senator Shehu Sani (APC Kaduna Central), reiterated that no ransom was paid for the release of the Chibok girls. However, he confirmed that insurgents were exchanged for the girls.

He said, “What we need to understand is the fact that we are dealing with a hostile situation and the priority is the freedom of the hostage. The negotiators were faced with two options: To pay heavy ransom to secure the release of the girls or use the insurgents who are captives as a bargaining chip.

“Now it was arrived at, that of the two options, it was better to swap the girls with the insurgents, there are consequences for both. If you give the insurgents heavy amount of money, they will use it to purchase arms, regroup, arm themselves and fight to regain their lost territories.

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“America, some few years ago swapped some Guantanamo detainees with some American captives, they swapped them with Talibans. And Israel has most times swapped captured Israeli soldiers with Palestinian prisoners of the Hamas faction.

“Nigeria is simply doing what others are doing. And we should understand that we cannot continue to leave these girls in captivity of Boko Haram  because we have fear of exchanging them with the insurgents. And it was 5 members of the insurgents that were swapped with the 82 Chibok girls”