Kidnapped UK optician killed in Nigeria
A BRITISH hostage has been killed in Nigeria but three other missionaries kidnapped with him were released after a three-week ordeal.
The dead man was named yesterday as optician Ian Squire, 57, an Evangelical Christian from Shepperton, Surrey, who founded the charity Mission for Vision and had worked in countries across the world to provide eye care to the poor.
His colleagues, Cambridge GP David Donovan and his wife Shirley, both 57, and Specsavers worker Alanna Carson, 24, from Fife, were said to have been freed after negotiations in Africa and were last night safe at home with their families.
Mr Squire, a father-of-three, and his fellow missionaries were snatched from their beds in a 2am raid on a small community in the Niger Delta region last month. It is believed they were kidnapped by a militant gang known for making ransom demands and held in hidden creeks and swamplands.
The circumstances around Mr Squire’s death were not clear last night. His family were told on Saturday that he had been killed.
The British High Commission and the Nigerian authorities reportedly negotiated the release of the three other Britons.
A source in the region told The Times they had heard that Mr Squire was killed in a rescue attempt but this has not been confirmed.
A security expert in Nigeria told the newspaper: ‘It’s quite unusual for a hostage to die. We haven’t seen that happen for a long time.’
Mr Squire, who was married to his second wife Brigitta, set up his charity in 2003 and organised teams to take old pairs of donated glasses to remote areas in Africa.
His friend Monica Chard said: ‘He was a lovely, quiet man who everyone knew and loved as the village optician.
‘He went out to Africa every year with the charity. He just wanted to help people see who otherwise would not have had any help.’
The Donovans founded the Christian medical charity New Foundations which, alongside Mission for Vision, set up an eye clinic accessible only by boat in the remote village of Ekameta in southern Nigeria.
A statement from the hostages’ families said: ‘We are delighted and relieved Alanna, David and Shirley have returned home safely. Our thoughts are now with the family and friends of Ian as we come to terms with his sad death.’