A top security source has told
Daily Trust that a German,
Raufach Edgar, who was
kidnapped in Kano on January
26 this year was killed by his
captors this morning before he
could be rescued by men of the
JTF.
The JTF had conducted a raid at
Danbare area opposite the new
campus of Bayero University
Kano this morning after tracing
the kidnapped German to the
hideout where he was being
held but the captors killed him
before the JTF could apprehend
them.
The raid is still ongoing and
sporadic shootings are still being
heard by residents who are all
trapped within their homes and
unable to go to work. A military
helicopter is also still hovering
overhead, providing aerial
support to the forces on the
ground.
The JTF is to brief the press soon
on the incident.
Raufach Edgar was until his
kidnap working with Dantata
and Sawoe construction
company. He was abducted by
two gun men around 8 am on
January 26 along the Zaria -
Kano expressway were his
company is located.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb connection
On March 27, a Mauritanian
and four other men were
arrested in Kano over the
January kidnapping. Four of the
suspects were arrested in a raid
on a supermarket owned by the
Mauritanian, while the fifth was
held in a separate raid.
“Guns and a laptop were
recovered in the store and the
documents found in the
computer, including an AQIM
operation manual, showed that
the suspects are linked to AQIM
(Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb) and were involved in
the kidnap of the German
engineer in January,” one of the
sources said in describing the
supermarket raid.
AQIM has also disclosed
through a private news agency
in Mauritania a week before the
raid that it was holding the
German and that it wanted to
swap him for a jailed Muslim
woman.
A video obtained by the agency,
ANI, showed Raupach, his hands
tied behind his back,
surrounded by masked gunmen.
In the video he called on his
"parents, friends and German
public opinion" to convince
Berlin to "bring an end to the
torture of our Muslim sister",
adding that only her liberation
will save his life.
AQIM warned that any attempt
to rescue Raupach will lead to
his death, as happened in the
case of Italian engineer Franco
Lamolinara and British colleague
Chris McManus, killed earlier
this month during a failed
rescue bid by Nigerian forces.
A source, speaking of the
Mauritanian, said “he turned the
upper floor of his store into a
hideout where he housed his
three Nigerian accomplices.”
Germany responds
A release said to be authorised
by the German Embassy in
Abuja and published as an
advert in Daily Trust on May 11,
2012 claimed the German
woman in question, had been
released.
The woman, Filiz Gelowicz, who
had converted to Islam and now
bears the name Uma Saifullah
Al-Ansariya, was released two
weeks ago, according to the
advert.
The publication announcing the
release of the jailed German
woman said, “100 days missing.
Your sister Uma Saifullah Al-
Ansariya (Filiz Gelowicz) is free
since two weeks. When do you
release our brother Edgar?? His
friends are waiting for him…”
Edgar’s photo was placed by the
side of the text of the advert,
which also contained a message
in Arabic apparently meant to
inform the kidnappers of the
release of Gelowicz.