Matawalle alleges some people paid kidnappers huge amounts not to release Jangebe girls

The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has revealed that while the state was negotiating with terrorists who abducted female students from the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Jangebe, Talata Mafara local government area of the state, to release them, there were influential people who were offering the kidnappers huge amounts of money not to release the girls.

Matawalle, who spoke on Tuesday after receiving the freed 279 girls at the Government House in Gusau, the state capital, said the armed men were offered money by unnamed persons so as not to release the girls.

He added that he would soon reveal the mystery behind the abduction of the girls and warned those instigating criminals in the state to be careful or they would face the full wrath of the law.

The governor also tasked relevant security agencies including the police, DSS and the Army to discreetly investigate the matter.

“I didn’t sleep for four days. We worked hard for days to ensure the safe return of the girls to their families. We are using kinetic and non-kinetic approaches, and the non-kinetic is working for us. If not, we wouldn’t have successfully negotiated the release of these girls.

“While we were negotiating the release of the Jangebe Girls with their kidnappers, there were influential people who were offering them huge amounts of money not to release the girls.

“We know them and in due course, we will reveal their identities,” he said.