An AFP investigation has revealed that the Nigerian government secretly paid a huge ransom, running into millions of dollars, to Boko Haram militants to secure the release of scores of children and staff abducted from a Catholic boarding school in central Nigeria.

Up to 230 pupils and employees of St. Mary’s boarding school in Papiri, Niger state, were seized in a mass abduction that shocked the country and revived memories of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping. Around 50 captives later escaped, but the rest were held deep in the bush as frantic negotiations unfolded.

According to four intelligence sources cited by AFP, the breakthrough came only after Abuja agreed to pay a substantial ransom and release two senior Boko Haram commanders, despite a national law that explicitly bans payments to kidnappers and terror groups.

One source said the deal amounted to roughly 40 million naira per hostage, estimating the total at about seven million dollars. Another put the overall figure at two billion naira. The cash was allegedly flown by helicopter to Boko Haram’s stronghold around Gwoza in Borno state, near the Cameroonian border, and handed to a commander identified as Ali Ngulde.

Because of poor communications in the remote borderlands, Ngulde reportedly crossed into Cameroon to confirm receipt of the money before authorising the release of the first batch of around 100 children.

Officials in Abuja have repeatedly denied paying any ransom. The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who led the negotiations, insisted the government did not fund the kidnappers. The State Security Service also rejected the claims, maintaining that government agents do not pay ransoms.

Yet AFP’s sources say the operation was orchestrated at the highest levels, driven by intense public pressure to bring the children home alive and fears that a prolonged standoff could end in mass casualties.

The investigation also links the Papiri abduction to a feared Boko Haram commander known as Sadiku, who runs a cell in Niger state and has been blamed for a 2022 train hijacking that yielded hefty ransoms from wealthy passengers and officials.

The alleged payout underscores how Nigeria’s decade-long battle with jihadists and criminal gangs has entrenched a lucrative kidnapping economy, where militants and bandits often collaborate and the state, despite tough rhetoric, is repeatedly accused of capitulating behind closed doors.