Israeli killed in failed Nigerian kidnapping

An Israeli man was shot to death in Nigeria on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said, apparently during a kidnapping for ransom attempt gone awry.

Nir Rosmarin, from Kfar Saba, was managing a construction site in the capital, Abuja, when he was accosted by four armed men.

Rosmarin called out for help and another Israeli at the scene tried to intervene, along with a local security guard. When Rosamarin slipped from the attackers’ grip and attempted to flee, the gunmen fired at him killing him.

The security guard was lightly injured in the shooting, while the second Israeli was unharmed.

Rosmarin is survived by his wife Dinor and four children: Roy, 13, Mika, 12, Omer, 8, and Noam, 6.

The Israeli was due back in Israel on September 19 to celebrate his wife’s birthday, the Hebrew-language Walla website reported.

“He was a dear friend of ours,” said Rabbi Israel Uzan, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Nigeria, a community comprised mostly of Israeli expatriates, according to Chabad.org.

The rabbi was seeking to have Rosmarin buried without an autopsy, in compliance with Jewish law.

The Israeli embassy in Nigeria and the Foreign Minister were to fly the Rosamarin’s body to Israel for burial.

Rosmarin had worked for two years with a company developing infrastructure in Nigeria.