OTTAWA - A Canadian man kidnapped in Burkina Faso Tuesday night has been killed, said Canada’s CTV on Thursday.
Kirk Woodman, a geologist working for the Vancouver-based Progress Mineral Mining Company, was abducted by gunmen at a mining site owned by the Vancouver-based Progress Minerals near the border with Niger, in an area the Burkina Faso government said is under growing threat from armed jihadists.
Woodman was shot and his body was found Wednesday night, 100 km from the site where he was kidnapped.
“This is a terrible, terrible crime and Canada is absolutely committed to working with the authorities in Burkina Faso to bring those responsible to justice,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday.
Woodman was the second Canadian to be missing in Burkina Faso in recent weeks.
Canadian woman Edith Blais, 34, and her Italian travel companion Luca Tacchetto were last heard from in the southwestern city of Bobo-Dioulasso in December 2018.
Canada has previously issued strong warnings for its citizens to avoid traveling to large parts of Burkina Faso as the African country declared a state of emergency in several northern provinces on Dec. 31, 2018 after attacks by militants reportedly have surged in the country in recent months.
