KIDNAP SAGA: Another Rescue Mission?

Five British jet bombers allegedly arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja yesterday in an attempt to rescue the seven expatriates abducted in Jama’are local government area of Bauchi State February 17.

The foreigners working with SETRACO Construction Company, included five Lebanese, a British worker and an Italian, were kidnapped with the terror group, Ansaru allegedly claiming responsibility for it.

According to reports, the jets were seen parked at the international wing of the Abuja airport and there are suggestions that they might already be on their way to prepare ground for the eventual rescue of the foreigners.

Reports described the jets saying three were grey in colour and the remaining two were army green jets marked “Royal Army”.

Last year, March 9, 2012, the British Special Forces and the Nigerian military in a similar situation failed at a joint rescue mission that saw two hostages, Chris McManus (Britain) and Franco Lamolinara (Italy) die in after a group that claimed ties to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

For months both men had been reported missing. McManus was working for construction company B.Stabilini when he was kidnapped on May 12, 2011, by gunmen who stormed his apartment in the city of Birnin-Kebbi.

Leadership Weekend further observed:

Some foreign soldiers putting on brown camouflage uniforms were entering one of the army green jets in preparation for departure.

It was further gathered that some of the jets had started leaving the airport for certain locations to assist in the rescue of the kidnapped foreigners.

The four grey-coloured jets departed the Abuja airport at about 5.55pm, leaving only the army-green jet at the airport as at press time.

The entry of the jets, the military source said, was to prevent the recent failed rescue operation in Sokoto where the terrorists killed the foreigners before they could be rescued by the security agencies, including foreign officers.

When contacted over the unusual sighting of the jets, the British high commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Rob Fitzpatrick, told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, “This is routine military-to-military engagement.”

Source: Leadership