Frenchman kidnapped by JAMBS begs for freedom

A 63-year-old French national,  Francis Collomp, an engineer with the French firm, Vergnet, who was kidnapped in Rimi in Katsina state on  December 19 2012 , has pleaded for his release.

His plea was shown in a video footage posted online by his abductors, Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Bildis-Sudan.

Agence France Presse reported that the abductee’s brother, Denis Collomp,  said if the video was  authentic, it would be the first video of Collomp to emerge since his abduction.

He said it was a relief seeing the images, while still fearing for his safety.

“I’m relieved, it’s good, even though he looked tired,” he said from his home in southeastern France.

But he added, “Ansaru have never released a single hostage, so it’s still very worrying,” recalling that his brother had undergone a triple heart bypass years ago.

Parts of the short video statement are not clear, but Francis Collomp can be heard calling for “negotiations” for his “safe release.”

In the latter half of the three-minute video, the camera focuses on an Arabic statement that addresses “the government(s) of France and Nigeria,” according to the translation provided by SITE.

While there is no direct threat of further attack on Collomp’s life, the statement vows to treat “treachery and treason” by the French or Nigerian governments with “reciprocity.”

Ansaru is considered by some to be a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, Nigeria’s more prominent Islamist group which has waged a deadly insurgency since 2009.

When Sunday PUNCH contacted the Presidency on the matter on Saturday, a highly placed source said although the mandate of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of the Security Challenges in the North did not include JAMBS, the committee might extend its negotiation to the sect.

Efforts made to contact the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, were not successful as the repeated calls to his mobile telephone line indicated that it was switched off.

Also, Attahiru did not respond to a text message on the issue.

The French Embassy in Nigeria has yet to make a pronouncement on the recently released video on its kidnapped national.

Attempts to get an official comment from the French Embassy in Abuja, on Saturday were unsuccessful.

Punch