Hostages 'murdered' by Nigerian captors

AFP

A photo of Chris McManus provided by his family. Source: AP

A BRITISH and an Italian hostage killed yesterday were murdered by "their Boko Haram captors" and those responsible have been arrested, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said in a statement.

Jonathan "condemned the killing of two kidnapped foreigners - an Italian and a British citizen - in Sokoto state Thursday by their Boko Haram captors before they could be rescued by a joint security raid on the kidnappers' hideout," a statement from his office said.

"The president, who particularly commended the cooperation and understanding of the British and Italian governments, assured that the perpetrators of the murderous act, who have all been arrested, would be made to face the full wrath of the law," the statement added.

Jonathan's statement marked the first time Islamist group Boko Haram, which has carried out scores of attacks in Nigeria, was officially blamed for the May 2011 kidnapping of the two men in Nigeria's Kebbi state.

Boko Haram has not been previously known to carry out kidnappings.

The Nigerian president also said his government "would take every necessary step to protect the lives of foreigners in the country."

Sokoto state is located in far northwestern Nigeria and neighbours Kebbi.

Residents said a shoot-out lasting some seven hours occurred at a building under construction in the Mabera area of the city of Sokoto, capital of Sokoto state.

They reported that at least two people believed to be among the kidnappers were killed, but authorities declined to confirm the report or link it to the abductions.

The two hostages were kidnapped by heavily armed men who stormed their apartment in the city of Birnin Kebbi, near the Niger border, in May 2011. They had been helping to build a central bank building in the city.

While scores of foreigners have been kidnapped for ransom in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta region, abductions in the mainly Muslim north have been relatively rare.

A German citizen was kidnapped in January on the outskirts of the northern Nigerian city of Kano. That kidnapping came in the wake of January 20 coordinated bombings and shootings in Kano claimed by Boko Haram which left 185 people dead.