The family of the abducted managing director of Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Hassan paid a ransom of N100m to terrorists to secure his release.
Mr Hassan was released on Wednesday after spending about 10 days in captivity following his abduction alongside scores of passengers of Abuja-Kaduna train bombed on the night of on March 28.
Although the terrorists had claimed that no ransom was paid in a short video, a source close to the family said ransom was paid.
The online news platform SaharaReporters said the family sold Hassan’s Abuja house to raise the money.
The kidnappers earlier sent the family the video of the harrowing experience Hassan and other 162 captives were facing, to fix the ransom price.
“A few days earlier, they sent the video of their harrowing condition in order to raise their stake. Alwan was always saying ‘give them whatever amount they want.
“So the family gave them what they insisted on… that is N100million,” said one of the family sources.
According to Daily Nigerian, the kidnappers first asked the family to take the money to a forest in Katsina on Tuesday before asking them to make a detour to another forest in Kaduna.
The source added that after the family emissaries journeyed for hours in the bush, the gunmen appeared fully armed in their hundreds and collected the money.
