British hostage's family 'saddened'

11 March 2013 Last updated at 17:53 ET

Relatives of Brendan Vaughan have released a statement in which they pay tribute to him

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Relatives of a British construction worker thought to have been murdered by a Nigerian Islamist militant group have said they are "shocked and saddened".

Brendan Vaughan's family said he was a "lovable rogue" who "lived his life to the full and on his own terms".

Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday that Mr Vaughan, 55, from Leeds, was "likely" to have been killed, along with six other foreigners.

The workers were captured in a raid on a construction site on 16 February.

Ansaru, a suspected off-shoot of the Boko Haram network, said it had carried out the attack in revenge for what it called atrocities by European nations against Islam.

An Italian, a Greek and four Lebanese workers were also seized in the raid on the Setraco construction site, in the northern state of Bauchi.

One security guard died during the assault.

In a statement, Mr Vaughan's relatives said: "The family of Brendan Vaughan, aged 55 from Rothwell, Leeds, are obviously shocked and saddened by recent events.

"Brendan, best described as a lovable rogue by everyone who knew him, lived his life to the full and on his own terms.

Grandfather-to-be

"He was a loved father, brother and fiance who was tragically killed on March 10th 2013."

The statement added that Mr Vaughan had been "deprived of meeting his first grandchild, a baby girl to be born in May.

"Brendan may be gone but will be never forgotten."

On Sunday, Mr Hague said Mr Vaughan was "likely to have been killed at the hands of his captors, along with six other foreign nationals.

"This is an unforgivable act of pure, cold-blooded murder, for which there can be no excuse or justification."

On Monday, the militant group purportedly posted a video online with the caption: "The killing of seven Christian hostages in Nigeria."

In it, a gunman with a rifle is seen standing in the sand next to several bodies, the Associated Press reports.

The video appears to match grainy images of bodies posted online by Ansaru on Saturday.

In an accompanying online statement, the militant group said it had killed the captives.

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"This was an act of cold-blooded murder," British official says - CNN International

An image released by the radical Islamist group Ansaru reportedly shows members posing at an undisclosed place in 2012.

• "This was an act of cold-blooded murder," British official says
• The hostages had been seized from a construction company office in February
• Their captors blame a raid; Britain says blame "rests squarely with the terrorists"

(CNN) -- Britain, Italy and Greece on Sunday confirmed that hostages from their countries were among seven construction workers reported killed in Nigeria over the weekend.

"This was an act of cold-blooded murder, which I condemn in the strongest terms," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement announcing that a British construction worker was among the dead.

Nigerian militant group Ansar al-Muslimeen claimed responsibility for the February kidnappings of the seven construction workers from an office in northeastern Nigeria. The group, widely known as Ansaru, released images of some of the bodies Saturday.

Italy's Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it appeared the report of the deaths "is founded." Greece said one of its citizens was among the dead, and that his captors "at no stage either communicated or expressed demands for the release of the hostages."

Workers abducted in northern Nigeria

Ansaru blamed the deaths on a joint Nigerian-British military operation intended to free the hostages. Without directly addressing the claim, Hague said, "Responsibility for this tragic outcome rests squarely with the terrorists."

"I am grateful to the Nigerian Government for their unstinting help and cooperation," he said. "We are utterly determined to work with them to hold the perpetrators of this heinous act to account, and to combat the terrorism which so blights the lives of people in Northern Nigeria and in the wider region."

Some of the other hostages were from Lebanon, which had not commented on the reports Sunday.

All seven hostages were seized from an office of Lebanese-based construction firm Setraco in northeastern Nigeria on February 18. In claiming responsibility for the attack, Ansaru said it taken them captive because of "transgression and atrocities" against Islam in Afghanistan, Mali and other locations.

Setraco's Nigerian subsidiary is involved in many major road construction projects in northern Nigeria.

U.S. officials say Ansaru is an offshoot of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which Nigerian authorities say is behind a recent rash of killings and kidnappings in the country. Boko Haram -- whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" -- has killed more than 2,800 people in an escalating campaign to impose strict Islamic law on largely Muslim northern Nigeria, according to Human Rights Watch.

Ansaru has previously claimed responsibility for the December kidnapping of a French citizen near the border with Niger and for an attack on a prison in Abuja in November.

CNN's Hada Messia in Rome and Per Nyberg in London contributed to this report.

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