GUNMEN KIDNAP BRITON, ITALIAN, FIVE OTHER FOREIGNERS IN BAUCHI

Unknown gunmen kidnapped seven foreigners and killed a security guard when they stormed the compound of Lebanese construction company SETRACO in Bauchi yesterday morning.

Among those abducted were a Briton, an Italian, a Greek and four Lebanese workers, including two women, Local Government Chairman Adamu Aliyu and security sources said.

It was the worst case of foreigners being kidnapped in the North since an insurgency by Islamist militants intensified nearly two years ago.

No one took responsibility for the attacks and kidnappings have been linked to Boko Haram and another Islamist group – Al Qaeda-aligned group Ansaru – which rose to prominence recently. The group claimed responsibility for the kidnap in December of a French national, who is still missing.

Bauchi Police Chief Mohammed Ladan said the gunmen attacked a police station and a prison overnight before storming the construction firm’s compound in Jama’are, a Bauchi State town.

“We repelled the attack on the police station and the security men at the prison yard also repelled the attack, but they burnt two vehicles in Jama’are police station,” Ladan said.

“They then attacked Setraco construction, killed a local security guard and they succeeded in kidnapping people,” he said and declined to state the nationality of the victims.

The Italian and Greek foreign ministries confirmed that one of their nationals was taken in the raid. A spokesman for the British Embassy in Abuja said it was investigating.

Islamist group Ansaru’s full name is Jama’atu Ansarul Musilimina Fi Biladis Sudan, which roughly translates as “Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa”.

It claimed responsibility for a dawn raid on a major police station in Abuja last year, where it said hundreds of prisoners were released. Last month in Kogi State, it attacked a convoy of Nigerian troops en route to deployment in Mali.

The group said the abduction of the Frenchman last year was motivated by France’s ban of the full-face veil and its military intervention against Islamist insurgents in Mali.

Kidnapping of foreigners for ransom has been common in the Southsouth for years but abductions by radical Islamists in the North began only last year.

Britain in November put Ansaru on its official “terrorist group” list, saying it was aligned with al Qaeda and was behind the kidnap of a British and a Italian killed last year during a failed rescue attempt.

Ansaru is thought to have loose ties to Boko Haram (Western Education is a sin), which has killed hundreds during a three-year-long insurgency focused mostly on Nigerian security forces, religious targets and politicians, rather than foreigners.

Boko Haram wants to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria.

President Goodluck Jonathan has repeatedly said that the military are winning the battle against what he calls “terrorism” in northern Nigeria.

But Western governments are increasingly concerned about Islamists in Nigeria linking up with groups outside the region, including al Qaeda’s North African wing AQIM.

President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), Dr. Ona Ekhomu urged the Federal Government to urgently commit law enforcement, intelligence and counter-terrorism resources in locating and safely rescuing the seven kidnapped foreign workers.

Ekhomu said the international community was waiting to see how the Nigerian authorities will resolve the kidnap crisis. He said the Bauchi kidnap incident was unfortunate as several nationalities were involved. “Our foreign partners are counting on the Nigerian security infrastructure to keep their citizens safe while they are in Nigeria. Therefore no security resource should be spared in the prompt and safe release of the foreign kidnap victims.”

The internationally-renowned security expert said the kidnap operation was apparently executed by Boko Haram in consultation with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).. He said: “the security breach must be understood in the context of Nigeria’s military action in Mali. The kidnap saga is meant to teach us a lesson for sending troops to Mali. This action is obviously one of those backlashes that we have anticipated will follow in the wake of Nigeria’s military action in Mali.”

Source: The Nation