Firm evacuates staff from Nigerian site
2013-02-18 12:31
Kano - A construction company has evacuated all of its staff
from a northern Nigeria site after gunmen blasted into the facility and
kidnapped seven foreigners, residents told AFP on Monday.
Police in Bauchi state, where the attack occured late
on Saturday, said their top priority was securing the release of the hostages, who
reportedly include four Lebanese, one Briton, a Greek citizen and an Italian.
The raid on the compound of the Lebanese-owned firm Setraco
was one of the worst attacks targeting expatriates in northern Nigeria in
recent years and may indicate a changing strategy by the radical Islamic groups
in the region.
Boko Haram Islamists, who are blamed for hundreds of deaths
since 2009, have repeatedly attacked Bauchi, but have never acknowledged
abducting a Westerner.
A group seen as an offshoot of Boko Haram, Ansaru, claimed
the kidnapping of a French national in December and some analysts fear this
splinter faction has prioritised foreign hostages, like other al-Qaeda-linked
groups in North Africa.
The kidnapping of expatriates have typically occured in
Nigeria's oil-rich south, with the hostages released following a ransom
payment.
Residents in the town of Jama'are, about 200km from the
state capital, said 12 vehicles arrived at the Setraco facility on Sunday and
evacuated all the staff, excluding those native to the town.
Main priority
It was not immediately clear how many of the remaining
workers were foreign and an official at Setraco's office in Nigeria's capital
declined to comment, also refusing to provide contacts for the company spokesperson.
"Now all the company employees, who are not from
Jama'are have left. Soldiers and policemen are conducting patrols in the
town," said resident Haruna Garba.
The assailants stormed a police station and a prison in
Jama'are before raiding the Setraco compound, police said.
When the kidnapping operation began the assailants struggled
to gain access to the site, then shot dead a security guard and used explosives
to blast a hole through the rear gate, residents and police said.
"There was a gaping hole... because the kidnappers used
explosives to blow up the rear when the occupants refused to open the
gate," said Sale Nagaidam, who visited the site on Sunday and witnessed
the heavy security deployment.
Bauchi's police spokesperson Hassan Auyo told AFP on Monday
that it was too early to speculate on who was behind the attacks.
"Our main priority now is to secure the release of the
hostages," he said, adding that a manhunt had been launched.
Several residents said that Setraco had last year evacuated
its foreign staff from the Jama'are site following a rise in deadly attacks
blamed on Boko Haram and that the expatriates returned to the region about four
months ago.
No claim of responsibility
The governments of Greece and Italy have confirmed that
their citizens were among those taken hostage.
Beirut has acknowledged that two Lebanese nationals were
seized, but has not matched the police figure of four, while the British
foreign office has said it is making "enquiries" before confirming
that a Briton was abducted.
There was no claim of responsibility for the weekend
violence, but attention will likely turn to the emerging group Ansaru, which
said it kidnapped a French engineer in the northern state of Katsina late last
year.
As a justification for the abduction, Ansaru cited France's
backing for a military intervention against Islamist rebels in Mali.
Little is yet known about Ansaru, although many suspect it
emerged from a faction within Boko Haram.
