The state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. admitted to paying armed militant groups $12 million in protection money.

The militants, according to NNPC head Abubakar Yar'Adua, originally had asked for $100 million in protection money, though energy officials were able to talk the armed group into accepting a payment of $6 million per month.

Yar'Adua, who admitted paying the militants in testimony before Nigerian lawmakers, later recanted his statement.

The payments reportedly were made after projects in the petroleum-rich Niger Delta incurred an estimated $81 million in losses over the last couple of months because of ongoing violence by the militants, who regularly attack onshore and offshore oil platforms, oil and gas pipelines and kidnap foreign workers in the region.

"The price we pay is very high. It is difficult to get expatriates to work in the Niger Delta. We paid militants $12 million because we were losing $81 million to the problem of the Charnomi pipeline in Delta State," Yar'Adua said in his testimony.