Nigerian extremists 'kill seven foreign hostages’

A breakaway Islamic extremist group in Nigeria has claimed to have killed seven foreigners who its members kidnapped in the north of the country, according to an online message.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said they were aware of reports of the death of a British national in Nigeria "and are urgently investigating".

The message from the extremist group, identified as Ansaru, could not be immediately verified by the Associated Press, though it included photographs the group claimed showed the dead, who were kidnapped from a construction company compound in February.

Those kidnapped included three Lebanese citizens and one each from Britain, Greece, Italy and the Philippines - all employees of Setraco, a Lebanese construction company with an operation in Bauchi state, local officials said at the time.

The message said Ansaru members killed the hostages after British warplanes were reported to have been seen in the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi by local journalists.

In a statement, the group said: “As a result of this operation, the seven hostages were killed.”

It said a video of the killings would be posted online. An online image accompanying the posting appeared to show a gunmen standing over bodies.

The group said a message from Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan that said the government would do anything in its power to free the hostages also sparked the decision to kill the hostages.

Ansaru previously issued a short statement in which it said its fighters kidnapped the foreigners on February 16th from a construction company’s camp at Jama’are, a town about 125 miles north of Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi state.

The attack saw gunmen first assault a local prison and burn police trucks, authorities said.

Then the attackers blew up a back fence at the construction firm’s compound and took over, killing a guard in the process, witnesses and police said.

The gunmen appeared to be organised and knew who they wanted to target, leaving the Nigerian household staff members at the residence unharmed, while the foreigners were quickly abducted, a witness said.

In January, Ansaru declared itself a splinter group independent from Boko Haram, the north's main terrorist group, analysts say.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege”, has launched a guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings across Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north.

Boko Haram is blamed for at least 792 killings last year alone, according to an AP count.

Yesterday, a military spokesman said at least two soldiers and 52 Boko Haram fighters were killed in Maiduguri in fighting after a visit by the president.

- PA