Senate spokesman Yemi Adaramodu has insisted that the Federal Government did not pay any ransom for the release of individuals recently abducted in Kebbi and Niger States.
Speaking in an interview on Friday, Adaramodu addressed public concerns over the absence of visible evidence of clashes between security forces and the kidnappers during the rescue operation.
“From our side at the National Assembly, we believe the Federal Government did not pay any ransom to anybody,” he said.
He explained that engagements with kidnappers can take different forms, noting that the public should not expect security agencies to reveal operational details.
“If there is any contact with the bandits, there are several types, negative or positive. It can be through force or persuasion,” he added.
Adaramodu cautioned against assuming that no military action was taken simply because there were no images of arrests or neutralised suspects.
“If you have not seen the corpses of abductors or them being handcuffed from the forest, that does not mean there was no serious exchange of battle,” he said.
“When abductors realise that superior power is coming, they can abandon their victims and flee.”
He stressed that the military and other security agencies are not required to publicly disclose the specifics of their strategies.
“The ways and manners of the military, how they rescue victims, cannot and will not be made public,” he noted.
“As a security agency, they will not tell us how many bullets they shot or how many guns they lost.”
According to him, the priority of both the Senate and the Federal Government is the safe return of victims—not the publication of tactical details.
“The job we gave them is to rescue the victims—our girls, our parents, our worshippers.
What we know is that they went, they brought back those who were ferried into the forest, and that is what matters,” he said.