Inside story of how British tourist was shot dead in Kaduna

Faye Mooney, a Briton, was one of the two persons shot dead at Kajuru Castle in Kaduna state on Friday morning.

Suspected bandits had attacked the holiday resort but two mobile policemen guarding the facility were said to have prevented them from gaining access to the facility.

A source told TheCable that Mooney, a member of staff of Mercy Corps Nigeria, a humanitarian agency, visited Kajuru Castle alongside Mathew Oguche, her colleague who is a Nigerian.

Oguche was also killed in the attack.

The source said when the gunmen started firing bullets into the castle from a rock where they hid, the deceased tried to take cover but got killed in the process

“Mooney and her colleague who were accommodated in rooms in one of the towers left their rooms when they heard the gunshots. They were hit by bullets as they were running down the staircase,” the source said.

“The bandits climbed up the rock by the gate. When they started shooting, the two mobile police guarding the place responded, so they knew there were armed policemen inside and they couldn’t come in.

“The deceased were panicking so they rushed out of their rooms and headed downstairs. The stairs are not covered, so as they were running down, the bandits sighted them and fired towards their direction. Their corpses were deposited at the St. Gerald Catholic Hospital, Kakuri, Kaduna.”

The source added that five people were initially abducted – four staff of the castle and a bus driver who brought some guests.

“These people were somewhere outside the gate taking shayi (tea). But two of the staff managed to escape and the bandits went with three people – two staff of the castle and the bus driver,” he said.

A police source told TheCable that the kidnappers have demanded a N60 million ransom.

The source said the bandits made the demand through a telephone call placed to one of the staff of the castle on Sunday.

Yakubu Sabo, spokesman of the Kaduna state police command, had not responded to a message sent to him on the development  as of the time of filing this report.