According to a Nigerian media report, a ransom of 10 million Nigerian dollars ($24,180) was paid to secure the release of Father Leo Ozigi.

“For years, the Bishops of Nigeria have decided that the Church should never pay ransom for the release of kidnapped priests or men and women religious,” said a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Abuja, the nation’s capital. “This, however, does not necessarily stop family members and friends of the kidnapped persons from taking steps to find the sums of money demanded by the kidnappers,”