Is there any Nigerian involved in Malian attack?

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that no Nigerian was involved in the terror attack at Radisson Blu hotel, Bamako, Mali last Friday in which 19 people were killed.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Ahmedu Ogbole-Ode, said the ministry did not have information that Nigerians were killed or injured in the attack by Islamist militants who stormed the luxury hotel and held 170 hotel guests hostage.
“No Nigerian was involved in the attack, we don’t have any information that Nigerians were affected by the incident,” he said on Saturday.
Initially, there were speculations that multi-billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote was in the hotel, but the industrialist in a tweet said he left the hotel on Thursday, 24 hours before the attack.
Most of the hotel guests and workers were freed when Malian and French special forces, and off-duty US servicemen stormed the hotel to end the siege.
Two militants were killed by the special forces who freed dozens of trapped guests.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the United States President, Barack Obama; Russian President, Vladimir Putin and the President of Mali, Ibrahim Keita, over the death of their nationals in the attack.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a Facebook post on Saturday, said Buhari and Nigeria joined other peace-loving nations of the world in condemning the attack.
The post said, “President Buhari assures President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and the people of Mali of the full support and solidarity of the Federal Government and people of Nigeria as they mourn those who lost their lives in the attack and strive to bring the surviving perpetrators to justice.
“The President also extends heartfelt condolences to the governments and people of China, Russia, the United States and Belgium, whose nationals sadly lost their lives in the heinous and callous attack.’’
Adesina’s post further stated that against the background of persisting atrocities in Nigeria and other countries across the world, President Buhari again called for increased cooperation among countries against all known terrorist organisations, their collaborators and sponsors.
Buhari stated also that Nigeria, under his leadership, remained committed to deploying all necessary resources and working with friendly nations, regional, continental and global organisations to speedily overcome the continuing threat of terrorism to world peace and security.
Copyright PUNCH