7 foreigners kidnapped in Nigeria attack
Source: Agencies |
February 18, 2013, Monday
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GUNMEN attacked a camp for a construction company in rural northern Nigeria, killing a guard and kidnapping seven foreign workers from Britain, Greece, Italy and Lebanon, authorities said yesterday.
It was the biggest kidnapping yet in a region under attack by Islamic extremists.
The attack on Saturday night happened in Jama're, a town in a rural portion of Bauchi state. Gunmen first attacked a local prison, burning two police trucks, Bauchi state police spokesman Hassan Muhammed said.
They then targeted a workers camp for a Lebanese construction company called Setraco, which is in the area building a road, Muhammed said.
The gunmen shot dead a guard before kidnapping the foreign workers.
The town is about 200 kilometers north of the state capital Bauchi.
Adamu Aliyu, chairman of the local government area that encompasses Jama're, identified those kidnapped as one British citizen, one Greek, one Italian and four Lebanese.
Italian news agency ANSA later said authorities confirmed an Italian had been kidnapped in the attack. It quoted Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi as saying the safety of the hostage must be given "absolute priority."
The foreign offices of both Britain and Greece said they were looking into the kidnappings.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abductions, though Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north has been under attack by the radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram in the past year and a half.
It is blamed for killing at least 792 people in 2012 alone.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the country.
The sect has killed both Christians and Muslims in their attacks, as well as soldiers and security forces.
Foreigners, long abducted by militant groups and criminal gangs for ransom in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, have become increasingly targeted in Nigeria's north.
In May, gunmen in Kaduna state shot and killed a Lebanese and a Nigerian construction worker, while kidnapping another Lebanese employee. Later that month, kidnappers shot a German hostage dead during a rescue operation. Gunmen who authorities say have links to Boko Haram also kidnapped an Italian and a British man last year in northern Kebbi State who were later killed during a rescue operation. The sect later denied taking part in that abduction.
In December, more than 30 attackers stormed a house in the northern Nigeria state of Kaduna, killing two people and kidnapping a French engineer working on a renewable energy project there.
Chinese construction workers also have been killed around Maiduguri, the northeastern city in Nigeria where Boko Haram first began.
In the most recent attack, assailants attacked North Korean doctors working for a hospital in Yobe state, stabbing two to death and beheading a third.
It was the biggest kidnapping yet in a region under attack by Islamic extremists.
The attack on Saturday night happened in Jama're, a town in a rural portion of Bauchi state. Gunmen first attacked a local prison, burning two police trucks, Bauchi state police spokesman Hassan Muhammed said.
They then targeted a workers camp for a Lebanese construction company called Setraco, which is in the area building a road, Muhammed said.
The gunmen shot dead a guard before kidnapping the foreign workers.
The town is about 200 kilometers north of the state capital Bauchi.
Adamu Aliyu, chairman of the local government area that encompasses Jama're, identified those kidnapped as one British citizen, one Greek, one Italian and four Lebanese.
Italian news agency ANSA later said authorities confirmed an Italian had been kidnapped in the attack. It quoted Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi as saying the safety of the hostage must be given "absolute priority."
The foreign offices of both Britain and Greece said they were looking into the kidnappings.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abductions, though Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north has been under attack by the radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram in the past year and a half.
It is blamed for killing at least 792 people in 2012 alone.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the country.
The sect has killed both Christians and Muslims in their attacks, as well as soldiers and security forces.
Foreigners, long abducted by militant groups and criminal gangs for ransom in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, have become increasingly targeted in Nigeria's north.
In May, gunmen in Kaduna state shot and killed a Lebanese and a Nigerian construction worker, while kidnapping another Lebanese employee. Later that month, kidnappers shot a German hostage dead during a rescue operation. Gunmen who authorities say have links to Boko Haram also kidnapped an Italian and a British man last year in northern Kebbi State who were later killed during a rescue operation. The sect later denied taking part in that abduction.
In December, more than 30 attackers stormed a house in the northern Nigeria state of Kaduna, killing two people and kidnapping a French engineer working on a renewable energy project there.
Chinese construction workers also have been killed around Maiduguri, the northeastern city in Nigeria where Boko Haram first began.
In the most recent attack, assailants attacked North Korean doctors working for a hospital in Yobe state, stabbing two to death and beheading a third.
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