The family of Faye Mooney, a 29-year-old British aid worker killed in Kaduna by kidnappers, have paid tribute to her bravery and belief in societal change that “took her to places others feared”.
Two people including a British aid worker were shot dead and four tourists abducted in an attack by armed gunmen on a holiday resort in northwestern Nigeria, police said on Sunday.
Police and aid agency Mercy Corps named the dead woman as Faye Mooney.
Mooney’s family told the Guardian that she was a bright and intelligent woman with a “deep love for life and people” who had never been happier.
“She was on holiday with her boyfriend Matthew Oguche,” they said. “Faye was an inspiration to her family, friends, students and work colleagues. Her bravery and her belief in a better society took her to places others feared. Faye did what she wanted; nothing held her back.
“Permanently against the grain, Faye was unconventional to the core. Her family and friends are so proud of who she was and of everything she achieved in her short but purposeful life. Her memory will always be cherished.
“Faye was a dedicated and passionate communications and learning specialist”, Chief executive Neal Keny-Guyer said in a statement posted on social media, adding that colleagues were “utterly heartbroken”.
Mooney had “worked with Mercy Corps for almost two years, devoting her time to making a difference in Nigeria”, Keny-Guyer added. Gunmen stormed the Kajuru Castle resort, 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of Kaduna City at 11.40 pm (2240 GMT) on Friday, Kaduna state police spokesman Yakubu Sabo told reporters.
The Briton “was gunned down from the hill by the kidnappers who tried to gain entrance into the castle but failed”, Sabo said. “They took away about five other locals but one person escaped,” he said.
A Nigerian man believed by local residents in Kajuru to be Mooney’s partner was also killed in the attack on the resort where a group of 13 tourists had arrived from Lagos, southwest Nigeria the……READ HERE
