Reports say fundamentalist Boko Haram splinter group Ansaru has claimed that it has killed the seven foreign hostages it seized on February 7, from a construction company in Bauchi, north east Nigeria.
Agency reports quoting site monitoring service says the group issued a statement in Arabic and English on an affiliate of the Sinam al-Islam network accompanied by screen shots of a video purporting to show the dead hostages. One screenshot showed a man with gun standing above several prone figures lying on the ground.
Ansaru, which has kidnapped other foreigners in the past, had blasted into the compound using explosives and abducted a Briton, an Italian, a Greek and four Lebanese workers.
In its statement, the group allegedly said it had decided to kill the hostages, taken from the compound of a Lebanese construction company because of attempts by Britain and Nigeria to rescue them.
Effort to get the police to confirm this has not been successful as the police spokesman, Frank Mba, said he could not speak on the matter immediately.
