Abducted Greek Hostage Murdered By Nigerian Terrorists

Abducted Greek Hostage Murdered By Nigerian Terrorists

---

By Hellas Frappe on 10.3.13

---

The foreign ministry on Sunday announced that the Greek citizen who was abducted by Nigerian terrorists on February 16 has been murdered, and that his immediate family has been notified. Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitis Avramopoulos contacted the victim’s mother, to whom he expressed the Greek State’s condolences and undivided support.

The deceased was apparently employed by the Lebanese company Setraco and was working in Bauchi, in northern Nigeria, when armed perpetrators attacked the compound where company personnel resided and abducted seven persons.

After taking responsibility for the attack, the terrorist organization at no stage either communicated or expressed demands for the release of the hostages.

Throughout the intervening time, the Greek State made it absolutely clear to all involved that its top priority was the protection and safety of the hostages. The Ministry said that this defined Greece's stance in every aspect of the handling of the case and added that based on the information they had, no operation was mounted to free the hostages.

   "As soon as the Greek citizen’s abduction became known, the Foreign Ministry’s Crisis Management Unit was activated and coordinated with the other competent Greek Services, keeping the abductee’s family apprised continuously.
   To maintain contact and coordinate with the other countries involved, a Team of specialized personnel was set up and carried out a number of meetings with the corresponding teams of the other countries.
   The Greek Embassy in Nigeria was reinforced with high-ranking personnel, and the Embassy staff, diplomats and police officers, maintained contact with the Nigerian authorities and local Embassies, while Greece’s Embassies in the involved countries were in contact with the corresponding Foreign Ministries.