- Title: NIGERIA: Police parade hostage murder suspects
- Date: 15th March 2012
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (MARCH 14, 2012) (REUTERS) MURDER SUSPECTS STANDING IN LINE JOURNALISTS SITTING VARIOUS OF SUSPECTS STATE SECURITY SERVICE SPOKESPERSON DOYIN ADETUBERE SPEAKING VARIOUS OF THE SUSPECTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIAN STATE SECURITY SERVICE, DOYIN ADETUBERE, SAYING: "Preliminary interrogation of the arrested suspects revealed that the guards protecting the two foreign hostages in Sokoto had been directed to kill them in the event of any envisaged threat. The arrested suspects therefore advised that a rescue operation would be immediately initiated, more so as one of them had escaped during the Zaria raid." VARIOUS OF SUSPECTS JOURNALISTS SITTING SUSPECTS BEEN USHERED OUT OF ROOM
- Embargoed: 30th March 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4VKR4A30W3WFY7TK0NB50KBZY
- Story Text: Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) on Wednesday (March 14) paraded five men suspected in the killing of two foreign hostages in the northern town of Sokoto.
British citizen Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara were killed on March 8 by their captors after gunfire erupted during an abortive, British-backed rescue attempt.
The pair was kidnapped last May while working for a construction company in northwest Nigeria.
Parading the suspects in front of the media, the spokesperson for the SSS said initial investigations had implicated the five men.
"Preliminary interrogation of the arrested suspects revealed that the guards protecting the two foreign hostages in Sokoto had been directed to kill them in the event of any envisaged threat. The arrested suspects therefore advised that a rescue operation would be immediately initiated, more so as one of them had escaped during the Zaria raid," Doyin Adetubere told reporters.
Nigerian forces had arrested two of the conspirators on Tuesday (March 13) near Sokoto on the basis of a Nigerian intelligence tip-off. After interrogation the two men led them to the compound where the hostages were kept.
A splinter group of the Islamist group Boko Haram, with links to al Qaeda's north African wing, has been blamed for the kidnapping. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
