• PDP: Paying criminals shameful, troubling •ADC demands clarification, alleges FG encouraging kidnapping •US lawmakers submit report to Trump, want Fulani herdsmen disarmed Chuks Okocha, Emmanuel Addeh, Olawale Ajimotokan and Michael Olugbode in Abuja The federal government yesterday dismissed claims that it paid as much as a N2 billion ransom to secure the release of students of St. Mary’s School, Papiri, Niger State, describing the allegation as false and baseless. In a statement issued in Abuja by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the government insisted that its longstanding policy against ransom payments remains unchanged. The government, which was reacting to a report by AFP amid a backlash from the opposition, maintained that recent res...