UK, Italy to Join Nigeria In 'Anti-Terrorism' Campaign

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and David Cameron of Britain meet in Algiers to discuss security issues. The In Amenas gas field was the scene of a recent standoff between armed combatants and the Algerian army., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

UK, Italy to join Nigeria’s battle against terrorism

Our Reporter on March 11, 2013
The Nation, Nigeria

Britain yesterday vowed to work with Nigeria to bring the killers of seven foreign hostages to justice as the death of the construction workers were confirmed.

Islamist fundamentalist group Ansaru on Saturday said it had killed the abducted workers of Lebanese construction firm Setraco.

The British, Italian, Greek and Lebanese nationals were abducted at a construction site in Jama’are, Bauchi State on February 6.

Ansaru posted a video of the bodies of the slain workers, which the British, the Italian and the Greek have confirmed to be real.

The group said it killed the hostages to prevent an operation to rescue them, apparently referring to reports that British aircraft were seen in Nigeria.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague identified the Briton among them as Brendan Vaughen. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti gave the name of the Italian victim as Silvano Trevisan.

“We will work with Nigeria and other affected countries to bring the killers to justice and tackle terrorism in the region,” Hague said.

Monti promised Rome would use “every effort” to stop the killers.

A statement from Greece’s foreign ministry said authorities had already informed the hostage’s family.

“We note that the terrorists never communicated or formulated demands to release the hostages,” the statement said, but did not give the victims’d name.

The Lebanese also have not named the victims from their country.

The British Defence Ministry said yesterday that the aircraft were in Nigeria to collect Nigerian troops who were being deployed to bolster the international offensive against Islamists in Mali.

Britain is providing airlift capacity to help the French-led mission there.

Ansaru, the fundamentalist group that kidnapped the seven construction workers, said in a statement, “the Nigerian and British government operation” prompted the executions. Both Britain and Nigeria denied that they had launched any such mission.
In a statement, Hague described the killing as an “act of cold-blooded murder”.

“It is with deep sadness that I must confirm that a British construction worker, held hostage in Nigeria since 16 February, is likely to have been killed at the hands of his captors, along with six other foreign nationals who we believe were also tragically murdered.

“This was an act of cold-blooded murder, which I condemn in the strongest terms. My thoughts are with his family, and the families of the other hostages, who will be devastated by this tragic loss.

“I offer them our deep condolences at this terrible time, and know that the thoughts of people up and down our country will be with them.

“Responsibility for this tragic outcome rests squarely with the terrorists. I am grateful to the Nigerian Government for their unstinting help and co-operation.

“We are utterly determined to work with them to hold the perpetrators of this heinous act to account, and to combat the terrorism which so blights the lives of people in Northern Nigeria and in the wider region.”

The Greek and Italian governments separately said yesterday that their intelligence services had new information that suggested the allegation was correct.

“Our checks conducted in co-ordination with the other countries concerned lead us to believe that the news of the killing of the hostages seized last month is true,” the foreign ministry in Rome said in a statement.

“This is a horrific act of terrorism for which there is no explanation except barbaric and blind violence.” Several Nigerian news websites carried versions of a story that first appeared on February 23 claiming that the British aircraft seen at Abuja were on their way to Bauchi State, where the kidnapping took place.

They were there, one report stated, “to prepare the ground for the eventual release of the foreigners”.

Britain’s High Commissioner to Nigeria was quoted in the article denying this, saying the aircraft were part of “routine military-to-military engagement”.

But in its statement saying it had executed the hostages, Ansaru included links to some of the stories online, as part of its justification for the executions.