Nifemi Babasanmi
President Bola Tinubu’s Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, says kidnappers sometimes choose to release abducted victims when holding them further could create problems they can no longer manage.
Bwala stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief while responding to a question on how the Federal Government secured the release of recently kidnapped schoolchildren without paying ransom.
He explained that several factors can influence the outcome of such incidents, stressing that not every engagement with armed groups involves money.
He noted that some individuals present themselves as negotiators, while influential figures including religious leaders can intervene to persuade abductors to free hostages.
“In some cases, the captors may decide to release victims because holding them any longer could create problems they are unable to manage,” he said.
Bwala added that security agencies sometimes track the criminals’ location but are unable to launch an operation due to the presence of civilian hostages, forcing authorities to issue warnings that pressure abductors into releasing their victims.
He also said there are instances when the groups simply decide on their own to free those they kidnapped.
He, however, admitted that in some situations, families or state governments end up paying ransom, but insisted that the Federal Government neither pays nor supports ransom payments.
“All of these things are possible for the release of the people,” he said. “But you asked whether the Federal Government did pay ransom I told you no. Whether the Federal Government will pay ransom I am saying no.”
Speaking further, Bwala emphasized that President Tinubu adopted a zero-tolerance stance on negotiation with terrorists, arguing that ransom payments amount to indirectly financing terrorism.
“There was a time the Federal Government was negotiating with terrorists,” he said, recalling earlier security policies reportedly referenced by former Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai.
“If your duty is to preserve life and negotiation is the only way to save citizens, you do what you must at that time. But President Tinubu came with this zero tolerance on negotiation because it doesn’t fit into terrorism financing. You are constructively financing terrorism without knowing it.”
He added that ransom paid to secure hostages is often used by armed groups to acquire more weapons, stressing that the Tinubu administration “does not tolerate the idea of negotiation.”
