Suspected kidnappers of the
two European engineers- a Briton, Mr. Chris McManus and an Italian, Mr. Franco
Lamolinara, on Saturday gave reasons why they killed the duo explaining that
they decided to perpetuate the act following their belief that they would be
killed by security agents who invaded their hideout.
The Suspects were moved to
Abuja on Friday by security agents for interrogation by skilled security
personnel.
The suspects, sources said,
told their interrogators that they were under instruction of their leaders to
shoot the hostages whenever they came under any threat from security agents.
“We had a standing
instruction to kill the hostages immediately we sight security agents around
the building. We were to kill the hostages since we were not sure of being
alive after an encounter with security men”, one of the suspects was quoted as
saying.
Heavily armed soldiers and
men of the State Security Service (SSS), backed by British security operatives
in a commando-like operation on Thursday stormed a criminal hideout at Mabera
area of Sokoto to free the two expatriates, an Italian Franco Lamolinara and
Briton Christopher McManus.
Both men had been kidnapped by the suspects in
Kebbi State May 2, last year. They remained in captivity until their death on
Thursday in Sokoto.
The failed rescue operation
was said to have started around 10am on Thursday when the security men sneaked
to Mabera, a sandy suburb in Sokoto metropolis without attracting the attention
of the residents of the area. Soon, they
cordoned off the un-tarred road leading to the detached building where the
abductors were hiding.
Sensing the presence of the
security personnel whose operation was heralded by an aerial patrol of the area
with a military helicopter, the abductors opened fire on them.
They shot sporadically into the air.
Consequently the security men who had laid ambush on the abductors from all
sides then reciprocated by shooting at the house where the abductors were with
the abducted expatriates.
It was gathered that before
the soldiers engaged the kidnappers in the gun duel, they asked residents who
were attracted to the area by the gunshots to leave. Witnesses told our
correspondent that the operators of a block factory opposite the abductors’
residence had to lie face-down.
They were in that situation
throughout the operation that lasted till 7pm. The gun duel lasted for hours,
throwing residents of the area into fear. As the battle went on, an Armoured
Personnel Carrier (APC) was deployed to join the assault.
Resident who were watching
the operation from afar, said the kidnappers killed the British and Italian
engineers when the soldiers were about to overpower them. “They killed the
foreigners and threw their lifeless bodies outside the gate. But before then, a
woman who was among the kidnappers came out from the house and from afar we saw
her talking to the soldiers. She had a gunshot injury on her leg,” Kabir
Mohammed who resides in the area, said.
According to him, the
soldiers took the woman aside and the gun battle continued. He said the gateman
was shot shortly after the woman left when he was trying to close the gate from
inside. At the end of the operation, he said he saw the soldiers carrying the
lifeless bodies of two of the abductors and that of the gateman.
“There was a time when the
abductors engaged my service to construct mosquito net for them,” said
Mohammed. “They paid me 1,000 naira for the small work I did for them but I did
not see any foreign nationals among them. I entered the house but not an inner
apartment.
The people I saw in the
compound were more than 10.” A civil servant, Mani Abubakar, who resides in the
area said his attention was attracted to the house when a helicopter was
patrolling only the building. “I was in my house when I noticed the helicopter
and some minutes later I started hearing gunshots from the house,” he said. “I
was peeping from my compound and throughout the operation I did not see any
military or security operatives.
Four hours into the gun
battle, the kidnappers jumped the fence of their house to an uncompleted
building near them. From there they were shooting and the soldiers set tires
ablaze and were throwing it to them.”
Residents besieged the area
a day after the failed rescue operation. From across the state residents of
Sokoto yesterday trooped to the house out of curiosity, as early as 7am
spectators continued to troop to the destroyed building. When our correspondent
visited, people were seen moving from room to room in the house.
We noticed numerous gunshot
holes in the building close to the house. Tyres were seen in an uncovered
soak-away pit in the building. At the main house of the abductors, also,
gunshot holes could be seen on the walls. After entering the gate of the house,
our correspondent saw a two bedroom flat.
Inside the compound, our
correspondent saw three rooms each with a toilet. In one of the toilets, there
was blood splashed all over. Spectators said it was where the expatriates
believed to have been killed.
Efforts to get the landlord
or caretaker of the house yielded no result as the occupant of the only house
facing the building refused to talk to the press.
0 comments:
Post a Comment