Ian Squire, 56, was one of four British charity workers kidnapped from the rural community of Enekorogha in the early hours of 13 October. An optician from Shepperton in Surrey, he had been working with the Christian health charity New Foundations to train local people to carry out sight tests and dispense prescription spectacles.
He had developed a solar-powered, portable lens-grinding machine for the clinic, which is located in an area without mains electricity.
Squire’s death was confirmed by the UK Foreign Office (FCO) on Monday as it announced the release of his three compatriots: the New Foundations founder, David Donovan, a GP from Cambridge; Donovan’s wife, Shirley; and Alanna Carson, an optometrist from Leven, Fife.
The circumstances surrounding Squire’s death were not immediately clear. An FCO spokesman said: “We are supporting the families of four British people who were abducted on 13 October in Nigeria, one of whom was tragically killed.
“This has clearly been a traumatic time for all concerned, and our staff will continue to do all we can to support the families. We are grateful to the Nigerian authorities, and are unable to comment given the ongoing nature of their investigations.”
In a statement, the families of the four hostages said: “Alanna, Ian, David and Shirley were kidnapped in Nigeria some three weeks ago. We are grateful for the support received by the British high commission and help from the Nigerian authorities in negotiating their release.
Squire, who set up his own charity, Mission for Vision, in 2003, had been travelling to Nigeria since 2013, in a joint effort with New Foundations. The establishment of the Enekorogha eye clinic was listed as an achievement in New Foundations’ 2016 Charity Commission filing.
“Workers’ accommodation was remodelled to provide a bespoke vision clinic with a small lens-grinding laboratory established,” the filing said. “Training continued with three workers and Mission for Vision CEO Ian Squire again visited with a team to trial a bespoke lens grinder and upscale the refractive and lens making skills of the small eye team.”
Mission for Vision’s latest filing said it was in the process of training three healthcare workers in the Delta. The charity had also carried out work in Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Carson has been reunited with her family in Northern Ireland, where she is recovering at her parents’ home in Ballymoney, County Antrim. She worked at a Specsavers in Fife, Scotland, but had been in Nigeria’s Delta region to help remove cataracts from local people’s eyes.
Kidnapping is a lucrative business in Nigeria, which has one of the highest kidnap rates in the world. Delta state is rich in oil and almost as rich in groups trying to control it, who argue that a bigger share of Nigeria’s oil wealth should be pumped back into the region.
Until 2009, the main armed group was the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which kidnapped oil workers and blew up pipelines. The group then signed an amnesty deal with the government, whereby members received generous salaries and vocational training.
The Niger Delta Avengers, one of the militant groups operating in the area, said on Friday that a ceasefire negotiated last year was over.
However, the group’s attacks have previously targeted oil and gas installations and there is no suggestion that they were behind the kidnap of the missionaries.
The Guardian UK