The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government is encouraging criminality by allegedly paying ransom to terrorists for release of kidnapped victims .

PDP in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary Ini Emembong, described as deeply troubling, the recent reports in international and local media platforms that the Federal Government paid ransom to secure the release of kidnapped victims in Niger, Kebbi, Kwara States.

The party stated that these revelations followed the visit and engagement of the United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Jonathan Burke, with top Nigerian security and finance officials in a bid to disrupt illicit financial flows linked to extremist groups.

According to the PDP, the revelation is a sad confirmation of the National Bureau of Statistics’ Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey 2024, which stated that Nigeria paid N2.3 trillion in ransom between May 2023 and April 2024.

The report also disclosed that 2,235,954 people have been kidnapped under the watch of the Bola Tinubu-led APC Federal Government. “When juxtaposed with the delayed and partial release of budgetary security funds and the ad hoc approach to security under this administration, it is clear why stories of superior weaponry in the possession of criminal nonstate actors have persisted and why the war against terrorism has remained unwon,” the party stated.