THE family of a kidnapped oil worker who died during a failed rescue attempt believe the Nigerian government still has questions to answer.

David Hunt was shot during an exchange of gunfire between rebels and the Nigerian navy.

He was snatched with six other oil workers from the Mystras - a tanker and oil refinery based off the coast of Nigeria - by The Supreme Egbesu Boys.

The family has spoken out after Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield recorded that Mr Hunt was unlawfully killed.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Constable John Groves, a family liaison officer for Cleveland Police, said: "This verdict will give the family some sort of closure.

"They have been very patient, but feel there was more that the Nigerian government could have done to give them more details of exactly what happened."

The 58-year-old grandfather-offive was forced to stand up in the kidnappers' boat as a navy vessel tried to intercept it as they sped towards the coast.

Mr Hunt received fatal gunshot wounds to the head and back, the inquest at Teesside Coroner's Court was told.

During the gun battle, two of the kidnappers and a serviceman died, and another hostage was wounded.

Mr Hunt had only been working in the troubled region for nine weeks when he was killed on November 23, 2006. He worked four-week on-off shifts as a production superintendent on the Mystras for a subsidiary of Italian oil firm Eni.

His family described him as a wonderful loving son, husband, father and grandfather, who had worked around the world with stints in Italy, Syria, and Libya before moving to Nigeria.

His widow, Janice Hunt, 56, of Middlesbrough, said: "The company said he was 100 per cent safe, otherwise he would not have gone."

At about midnight on November 22, about 20 rebels boarded the vessel - moored 60 miles off the Niger Delta coast - on the pretence of getting compensation from the oil company for a sacked employee who felt aggrieved at his treatment.

They left at about 6am taking the seven hostages - including two Finns, an Italian, a Filipino, a Pole, and a Romanian - and leaving a ransom note for $3.2m.

Another oil worker, maintenance supervisor Peter O'Brien, was critical of the on-board security provided by the Nigerian authorities.

He said: "The six military guards were useless.

"They were either resting or asleep."

Recording a verdict of unlawful killing, Mr Sheffield said it By Graeme Hetherington graeme.hetherington@nne.co.uk The six military guards were useless. They were either resting or asleep Oil worker Peter O'Brien was impossible to say who had fired the fatal shots that killed Mr Hunt.

"Even if the hostage takers did not fire the shots which killed Mr Hunt, it may well have been the navy that fired the shots, but it was still the rebels that were acting unlawfully so, consequently, David Hunt was unlawfully killed," he said.