In a news that was published by the Daily Trust Newspaper online this morning, it was reported that a source from the Department of State Service, DSS, who spoke under the condition of anonymity to Daily Trust correspondent, has revealed one of the reasons why Tukur Mamu, a Kaduna-based publisher, was arrested on Tuesday by security operatives in Cairo, and subsequently extradited back to Nigeria.
In the information that was given, it was alleged that Mamu has link to the terrorists who abducted the Abuja-Kaduna train victims few months ago and that, he made some amount of money from the nefarious act.
The source speaking said that, Mamu collected over N2 billion from the victims to give to the terrorists in order to secure their release, as some payments were made in US dollars to him. However, DSS received information that Mamu negotiated with the terrorists to profit from the ransom the victims paid and paid the terrorists lesser amount.
Aside from this, the source said, there were many allegations against the negotiator around the ransom paid to secure the release of the train passengers.
He said, “There have been reported inconsistencies between the monies that were paid to the terrorists and what was actually remitted to the terrorists. He is also seen as pandering too much to the side of the terrorists than the people that were kidnapped and federal government. What pained us was the recent move to pay N25 million to secure the release of the remaining 23 persons, but, at the last minute, he thwarted the arrangement and insisted on a much higher figure.”