Fresh reports point to the fact that the seven French hostages that had been held by the Boko Haram Islamist sect in Northern Nigeria might have been released in exchange for a N500m (about $3.15m) paid by French and Cameroonian negotiators.
This was according to a confidential report by the Nigerian government and obtained by Reuters which said that the ransom was paid to secure the release of the hostages on April 19, in addition to Cameroonian authorities releasing some Boko Haram detainees as part of the deal.
However, the memo did not state who exactly paid the ransom, as both the French and Cameroonian governments have consistently denied ransoms were involved, while Nigerian authorities have refused to comment.
On February 19, armed men on a motorcycle had snatched Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, who worked in Cameroon with the French utility, GDF Suez, his wife, brother and the couple’s four young children, the youngest of whom was four years old, while they were on holiday near the Waza national park in north Cameroon, some 10 kilometres from the Nigerian border. They were believed to have been held in North-East Nigeria.
When they were released, the French President Francois Hollande had denied that any ransom was paid.
However, the Nigerian report suggested that 1.6billion CFA francs ($3.15million) was paid, half of what the Boko Haram leader had been insisting on until the last minute when he agreed to a lower amount in addition to the release of some sect members being held in Cameroonian jails.
French news network i-tele reported earlier on Friday that a ransom had of $7 million had been paid, suggesting either Cameroon President Paul Biya or GDF-Suez had paid it.
In a reaction to the report, a French foreign ministry official said that France has passed a clear message that it does not pay ransoms. Cameroon government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said “Cameroon did not pay any ransom.”
A spokesman for Nigeria’s government declined to comment.
The report suggests Nigerian security forces decided not to try to rescue the hostages so as not to put their lives in danger, after a botched rescue attempt of a British and an Italian hostage believed to have been held by Islamist sect Ansaru in March last year resulted in both hostages being killed.
Eight French hostages are being held in the Sahel region, although the fate of one of them is unclear after al-Qaeda’s North African arm last month said it had beheaded Philippe Verdon.
Hollande has said Paris has ended a policy of paying ransoms for hostages, but suspicion that the country still does despite official denials has been a source of tension with the United States.
France brushed off an allegation by a former US diplomat that it paid a $17 million ransom in vain for the release of four hostages abducted in 2010 from Niger.
Hollande told the family of the Sahel hostages in January that the new policy also meant that he had told companies and insurance firms to not pay ransoms.