President Jonathan Monday said he suspect that some of the Workers of the Setraco construction company that were kidnapped by the Ansaru militant group may still be alive.

Addressing a joint press conference with the Visiting Lebanese President, Michel Sleiman at the state House president Jonathan said a combination of the difficulty of the terrain where the kidnapped foreigners are suspected to be and the fear that their Kidnappers may kill them has stopped Nigerian security forces from trying to rescue them.

Seven foreigners including four Lebanese were kidnapped by Ansaru Militant group in Bauchi state about a month ago.

The group later showed a video clip of bodies which they claimed were those of the hostages, saying that they were killed because of plans by Nigerian and British security forces to rescue them.

But speaking on the incidence, President Jonathan said "we really suspect that some (of the hostages) probably have died either from health or other related causes or direct killing but we still believe that not all the seven (were killed) because even the release in the social media did not really show all the seven so we are still working on it".

He noted that though Nigeria had been working with other countries whose nationals were also kidnapped on the possibility of their rescue, the safety of the hostages remained a paramount consideration.

"From the date of the kidnap, we have been working with our own friendly nations including the United Kingdom and others to see that this people were rescued. Because of the ugly experience we had when a similar situation happened and about the time we were to release the people they were shot.

Security services were being careful so that if the kidnappers noticed invasion they would not just turn round and kill the people. The place where they suspected to be holding them is quite a difficult area. It is a rocky terrain that you cannot easily access.

"Over the period they (Kidnappers) released some information through the social media but analysis of that information does not really give us a conclusive position.

"I briefed my colleague President Sleiman that we are still working on it and we will get to the root and if they are killed I insist that we must get their corpse" president said.

He decried the destructive activities of Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations in the country, describing it as "a sad moment in our history.

"The issue of the excesses of Boko Haram and related organisations is quite sad. It is a very ugly phase that we are passing through" he said.

In a communique issued at the end of the visit, the two leaders called for the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries, noting that greater People-to-People contacts would deepen mutual understanding and friendly ties between the two countries and its peoples.