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Christian Missionary Kidnapped by Nigerian Cult Shot and Killed After Singing 'Amazing Grace'
By LEAH MARIEANN KLETT ( news@gospelherald.com ) Nov 27, 2017 09:15 AM EST Comment
Ian Squire (center) 57, was among four Christian missionaries seized by a gang during a raid in the early hours of October 13 in the country's southern Delta state. He was shot and killed after singing "Amazing Grace."
MailOnline
A Christian missionary kidnapped in Nigeria was murdered after playing the popular hymn "Amazing Grace" on his acoustic guitar to cheer up his fellow captives, a sobering new report has revealed.
Ian Squire, a 57-year-old optician, was killed instantly after being shot multiple times by one of the gunmen that abducted the four-member missionary team from their clinic in the country's southern Delta state on October 13, The Telegraph reports.
Missionaries Shirley and David Donovan recalled how the gunman - a member of the "Egbesu Boys," a cult-like gang named after an ancient war god - opened fire after Squire had finished singing the hymn, written by 18th-century slave trader-turned-preacher John Newton.
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"It was the perfect song, and at that point things began to look not quite as bad," David said. "But then, after Ian finished playing, he stood up, and a salvo of gunshots killed him instantly."
The couple said that while they didn't see the shooter, it was clear one of the kidnappers was responsible.
"It was terrifying to see," he said. "We jumped out of the shack and into the water as we thought they were coming for us next, but a member of the gang came and put us back in there with Ian for the rest of the day."
After Squire's death, the group were moved to another shack, and the gang, who dined off roasted monitor lizard, brought noodles and clean water for the missionaries.
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During their three-week abduction, the group kept their spirits up by playing a version of BBC Radio 4 quiz The Unbelievable Truth, where contestants have to tell fact from fiction. They would also read a Bible the kidnappers had stolen during a robbery, according to the National Post, and would sometimes engage their abductors.
"They justified their actions by saying that they'd grown up with nothing, and that we were privileged, but we pointed out that some of our own clinic workers had also come from troubled backgrounds," said David, who also offered his captors medical help. "There was a bit of a silence about that at first, but by the end two of them were asking for lessons on the Bible."
Shirley added: "We told them about one of our clinic workers, Jerusalem, who had been a troubled man but had become a Christian and a transformed character. He'd been trained by Ian and could even do the maths for lens refraction. Then one of the guards said 'stop this conversation now'. I said 'why?'. He said 'because you are speaking to my soul'. Jerusalem could have been one of them."