Optician held hostage in Nigeria is back home
An optician who was being held hostage in Nigeria has returned home safely following the death of one of her fellow detainees.
Alanna Carson, who lives in Fife, was one of four charity workers being held before the authorities negotiated their release.
The circumstances surrounding the death of hostage Ian Squire, 57, were not immediately clear.
It is understood that Mr Squire, Ms Carson and fellow Christian charity workers david and shirley Donovan were offering cataract operations and eye check-ups when they were abducted on 13 October. A Foreign Office spokesman said it had been “a traumatic time for all concerned”.
An optician who was being held hostage in Nigeria has returned home safely following the death of one of her fellow detainees.
Alanna Carson, who is originally from Northern Ireland but now lives in Fife, was one of four charity workers being held before the authorities in the west African country negotiated their release.
The circumstances surrounding the death of hostage Ian Squire, 57, three weeks after his kidnap, were not immediately clear.
It is understood that Mr Squire, Ms Carson and fellow Christian charity workers David and Shirley Donovan were working to offer cataract operations and eye checkups when they were abducted from their accommodation in Delta State in the south of the country in the early hours of 13 October.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the families of four British people who were abducted on 13 October in Nigeria, one of whom was tragically killed.
“This has clearly been a traumatic time for all concerned, and our staff will continue to do all we can to support the families. We are grateful to the Nigerian authorities, and are unable to comment given the ongoing nature of their investigations.”
In a statement, the families of the four hostages said: “Alanna, Ian, David and Shirley were kidnapped in Nigeria some three weeks ago.
“We are grateful for the support received by the British High Commission and help from the Nigerian authorities in negotiating their release.
“We are delighted and relieved that 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.
“This has been a traumatic time for our loved ones who were kidnapped and for their families and friends here in the UK. We would therefore ask that the media respect our privacy as we come to terms with the news.”
Ms Carson worked at Specsavers in Leven, Fife.
Adrian Mccann, store director of Specsavers in Leven, said: “We are of course hugely relieved to hear that our colleague has been safely released and is back home with her family.”
Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria. A number of high-profile abductions have been carried out by militants in the Niger Delta region and by the Islamist group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria.
Friends said Mr Squire was a “lovely, quiet man who only wanted to help the poor”.
Squire ran his own opticians in Shepperton, Surrey, and had been founder and chairman of Christian charity Mission for Vision since 2003.
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 and his wife was also involved. He just wanted to help people see who otherwise would not have had any help.
“His widow must be devastated, especially after three weeks of hell waiting to find out if he was alive.”