By Ambrose Amos
A prominent NDC member, Ife Salako claimed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration paid deadly kidnappers billions for the release of Oyo school victims
The military and the Nigerian presidency recently confirmed that most of the Oyo abduction victims were rescued, sharing pictures online.
Given that the mass abduction in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo state attracted international attention, Ife Salako, a Lagos-based chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Monday, July 20, 2026, claimed that Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that President Bola Tinubu's administration paid outlaws billions of naira.
The opposition figure stated that the Nigerian government paid the ransom to secure the release of victims abducted in Oyo state.
Salako wrote on his verified social media account, with an accompanying video.
“One of the teachers already said the kidnappers freed them and not that the soldiers rescued them.
“Now, AFP is reporting that Tinubu paid kidnappers billions to rescue the Oyo victims.
The AFP report the NDC chieftain cited, accompanied by a screenshot of a Nigerian media outlet's publication, was not about the Oyo school abduction. Instead, it was a February 2026 investigation concerning the Nigerian government's alleged payment of ransom to Boko Haram for the release of pupils and staff abducted from a Catholic school in Niger state in November 2025.
According to the AFP investigation, the Nigerian government allegedly paid Boko Haram terrorists a "huge" ransom worth millions of dollars to secure the release of up to 230 pupils and staff. The report also claimed that two Boko Haram commanders were released as part of the deal, despite Nigerian law prohibiting ransom payments to kidnappers.
AFP further reported, citing intelligence sources, that the money was delivered by helicopter to Boko Haram's stronghold in Gwoza, Borno state , near the Cameroon border.
But the Nigerian government has since strongly denied the allegations .
Minister of Information Mohammed Idris described AFP's report on the Niger state abduction, which cited intelligence sources, as "completely false and baseless" and said it was a "disservice to the professionalism and integrity" of Nigeria's security forces.
He also quashed claims that two Boko Haram commanders were released as part of any agreement.
Meanwhile the defendants, Abdulrazak Umar, Yunusa Musa, and Shamsu Adamu Sani, all of northern Nigerian extraction, are facing counts that include terrorism, kidnapping, concealment of information, incitement, and illegal mining.
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