The family of a British construction
worker murdered by his Islamist kidnappers just minutes after a joint UK
and Nigerian rescue operation stormed their compound today praised the
soldiers who tried to save him and said the Government had been right to
send them.
Quantity
surveyor Chris McManus from Oldham was shot six times in a toilet as the
special forces tried to save his life, but they were under AK-47 fire
from the kidnappers at the compound in Nigeria’s north west city of
Sokoto. His Italian colleague Franco Lamolinara was also killed.
His
family said the seven British special forces soldiers and the Nigerians
had risked their lives to save him after nearly ten months of captivity
at the hands of the extremists.
Chris McManus (pictured) and Italian colleague
Franco Lamolinar taken hostage in northern Nigeria were killed by their
captors before they could be rescued
'We hoped until the end for a
positive outcome as we are sure did Chris and Franco. They were always
in a dangerous situation from the time of their kidnapping.
'However,
the sequence of events, particularly over the last few days of their
lives, played out in such a manner as to make it a hopeless one,' his
mother Laura said.
'We
accept that the decisions reached and taken by the authorities were the
only ones possible based on the information available.'
Wiltshire and Swindon coroner David
Ridley recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and said: 'Chris died from
the result of a devastating gunshot wound to the head.'
The
hearing in Salisbury heard the soldiers stormed the building after
intelligence in previous days told them that Mr McManus, 28, was there
with Mr Lamolinara.
The go-ahead for the operation had
been given by Cobra - the Government’s crisis committee - at 11.15, just
45 minutes before it started - after a senior officer had reviewed the
evidence and there were fears for the men’s safety.
The British team had been sent to the
area the previous day and burst through the compound front gates at
midday local time on March 8 last year, senior investigating office
detective chief inspector Grant Mallon said.
The
soldiers were soon put under small arms fire and he said the weapon was
an AK-47 because of its distinctive crack sound. The men killed at
least one militant and then Mr Mallon said they heard further shots with
the same distinctive crack in the north west area of the compound.
Laura McManus, the mother of Chris McManus from Oldham, read a statement after the inquest in Salisbury into her son's death
Laura McManus and Chris's sister Justine McManus (left) and brother Ben McManus, after the inquest
Chris McManus's mother kisses her son Ben after the inquest and giving a statement
'Muffled
gunshots were heard by the team in sector one in the north west corner
of the compound. They were from a high calibre weapon. It seemed to them
they were in a room and it was rapid shots.
'Two insurgents were then seen leaving the compound from the north on a ladder at 12.04,' the policeman said.
The soldiers then systematically went
through the compound until they came to the north west end of the
compound and found some tarpaulin obscuring a building.
The
men saw single beds and a room with a barred window. They then went
into another room with a single and double bed and saw a Manchester
United football shirt similar to one Mr McManus had been wearing in
videos released by his captors in the months before his death.
'They called out for Franco and Chris but received no reply,' Mr Mallon said.
'To
the right there was a metal door to a toilet and they noticed there
were bullet holes to it and the team noticed there were 7.62mm munitions
and cases on the floor.
'The door was partially open and when
the soldiers looked inside they could see two white males on the floor
and they immediately recognised them as Chris and Franco. Chris was
lying to the left of the toilet. Both men had visible gunshot wounds. It
appears they were killed fairly quickly into the engagement.
'A doctor was called forward. He examined Chris and Franco, and Chris was pronounced dead at 1.38 pm local time.'
Kidnapped British national Chris McManus with
three alleged masked and armed members of an Al Qaeda-linked Nigerian
group at an unidentified location
The house in Nigeria where British hostage Chris McManus and Italian hostage Franco Lamolinara were killed
The pair were killed when a Special Boat Service
rescue operation ended in tragedy. Gunshot holes and marks can be seen
on the walls
A post-mortem examination found
that Mr McManus died from a single gunshot wound to the head from a
7.62mm round that killed him almost instantly, the hearing was told. He
also suffered injuries to the left leg, the left arm and torso. Friendly
fire was ruled out in the death because the rescue forces were using
5.56mm munitions.
The men
had been kidnapped in May 2011. Before their execution three videos were
released showing they were alive - the latest on February 23 2012.
The
failed operation caused a diplomatic row between Britain and Italy
after Italian president Giorgio Napolitano said it was “inexplicable”
that Downing Street had not alerted Rome to the plan to rescue the men
in advance.
But Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted it had been impossible to inform the Italian authorities in advance.
Franco Lamolinara, the Italian hostage killed in Nigeria alongside Chris McManus
British officials at the time
blamed a splinter wing of the Boko Haram sect for the abductions, but a
sect spokesman denied the group’s involvement.
Mr
McManus was working for the construction company B.Stabilini when he
was kidnapped on May 12 by gunmen who stormed his apartment in the city
of Birnin-Kebbi, about 110 miles away from Sokoto. Mr Lamolinara was
abducted at the same time.
The
gunmen stormed into the heavily guarded compound the men lived in just
500 metres from the construction site they were working on and tied up
the guards.
Mr McManus was
working on a building in Birnin-Kebbi for the state bank of Nigeria and
had returned home at about 6pm. The kidnappers struck at around 8.30pm
and at first the staff thought the men were just thieves who had got
into the compound. Prior to the abductions the city had been considered
safe by B.Stabilini.
Recording
his verdict, Ridley said: “Within the first minutes of the operation
was when Chris was fatally shot. Those two insurgents who were seen
leaving the compound, I’m satisifed that one of those was responsible
for Chris’s death and also Franco’s.
The
coroner said Mr McManus might have tried to seek refuge inside the
toilet when the rescue operation started but he was shot through the
door and then his killer partially entered the room to fire fire further
rounds.
Youths look out from a compound where two hostages were held in Sokoto, Nigeria on Saturday
'An examination after death in
the UK on March 11 confirmed that he suffered devastating gun shot
wounds to the head from an AK variant assault weapon, most likely an
AK-47.'
'I have no doubt here that Chris was killed as the result of a weapon fired by an insurgent,' he said.
'It
was fired without legal justification or excuse and quite clearly with
the intention to kill, and sadly the insurgent was successful in his
action.”
Speaking outside
the court, Mrs McManus said: 'Two years ago we lost our beloved Chris,
the trauma, pain, horror and distress have been overwhelming and
intense. We are living our way through the grief with the tireless
support and love of our family and friends. Our thanks and love goes out
to each and every one of them.
'Chris cannot be hurt any more, we and all those who loved him will always remember the way he lived and not the way he died.'
Mr
McManus lived at Wensleydale Close in Oldham and graduated from Salford
University with a 2:1 in quantity surveying. His parents Mike and Laura
McManus and his brother and sister Justine and Ben were at the hearing.
The Oldham Athletic fan had always wanted to work abroad and had been in Nigeria for seven months before he was kidnapped.
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