The Federal Government has vowed not to pay any ransom to the kidnappers holding seven members of a French family.
It will be recalled that the seven French nationals, including four children under the age of 12, were kidnapped last month in Cameroon near the northeastern border with Nigeria.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, who disclosed this to journalists today, said that the federal government is working round the clock with all security agencies in the Country to ensure that the kidnapped French nationals are released without harm.
Ashiru said: “As part of our own policy, we don’t pay ransom to terrorists but we would do everything possible to ensure that those terrorists are able to release their captives without any harm coming (to) them.”
French foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius who earlier had a closed door meeting with President Godluck Jonathan, briefed state house correspondents after the meeting.
“Of course, we raised the subject of hostages,” Fabius said of his meeting with Jonathan.
“There are eight French hostages that are in Nigeria…We truly (and) very deeply wish that the French hostages can be freed.”