British aid worker is shot dead by Nigerian kidnappers
A BRITISH woman has been shot dead after armed kidnappers attacked a holiday resort in Nigeria.
Aid worker Faye Mooney was murdered by gun-wielding thugs late on Friday night when they stormed a party at the retreat in Kajuru Castle, in the northern state of Kaduna.
A Nigerian man was also killed and three people were abducted.
Miss Mooney, 29, was working in Nigeria for a non-governmental organisation called Mercy Corps as a communications specialist. The NGO works to support people who have survived humanitarian conflicts to develop their communities.
She had travelled almost 600 miles to the city as a tourist from the southern city of Lagos.
A graduate of University College London and the London School of Economics, the aid worker had taught in Iraq and worked in Kosovo to fight human trafficking. Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attack and the killers have not been identified. Kidnappings are rife in Nigeria – with both locals and foreigners being targeted, often for ransom money. Kaduna state police said: ‘Some suspected kidnappers armed with dangerous weapons gained entry into a recreational resort called Kajuru Castle in Kajuru local government area shooting sporadically and in the process shot dead two persons, including an expatriate lady, and took away three others.’ Neal Keny-Guyer, the chief executive of Mercy Corps, said: ‘Faye was a dedicated and passionate communications and learning specialist who had worked with Mercy Corps for almost two years, devoting her time to making a difference in Nigeria, supporting our teams and the communities we work with to tell their stories of impact, and leading efforts to counter hate speech and violence.’ He added: ‘Faye was deeply comengaging mitted to fostering cross- cultural collaboration and was an inspiration to us all.’
Northern Nigeria has been plagued by a brutal insurgency from Boko Haram, an Islamic terror group allied to the Islamic State, with thousands of people being killed in the conflict.
In April 2014, more than 270 schoolgirls were abducted in Chibok by the extremist organisation. In turn, a global campaign was launched, named Bring Back Our Girls. Some of the girls remain in captivity over five years later.
A statement from the British High Commission in Nigeria said: ‘We are
‘Shooting sporadically’ ‘Dedicated and passionate’
with the Nigerian authorities, and we understand an investigation is under way.’
In February, President Muhammadu Buhari won re- election for four more years with a promise to improve security in the country, to boost the economy and to fight corruption.
While the British High Commission released the UK victim’s name and confirmed it was aware of the incident, it refused to speculate on the motive or nature of the attack.