Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has intimated that both the current government and the previous one made ransom payments to kidnappers.
On Wednesday May 5, while hosting members of Tiv professionals Group (TPG) at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, he made this disclosure.
The former President, noting that those in charge had still denied doing so, encouraged them to devise a method of dealing with kidnappers and bandits rather than ransom payments.
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He said;
“Government has always paid ransom. Not only this government, even during Jonathan (administration). They paid ransom, but they deny it.”
He also alleged that fighting insecurity to a standstill requires a “carrot and stick” approach.
Obasanjo added;
“Some people are still reaching out, and hoping that lives can still be saved. But a situation whereby anybody thinks paying ransom is the way out, that person is folly. He is a folly. This is because when you pay ransom, you encourage. But if you are not going to pay ransom, you must have the means to deal heavily with it. You must have the stick to deal with it.”
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In recent news, the ex-Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo showered encomium on Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun for his initiative with the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) to ensure proper sanitation of the state.
Obasanjo, a native of Ogun State received the OGWAMA Management Team who were on a working visit to Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta. He praised them for their efforts at keeping the state clean.
Source: NaijaOnPoint.com
