Italian engineer Francesco Molinara, 48, and his British colleague Chris McManus, 28, were believed to have been shot by their captors before they could be rescued in the assault authorised by British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday.
Nigerian security sources said eight suspects had been flown to the nation's capital Abuja and had confessed to killing the two expatriates in the northern town of Sokoto during the joint military operation to free them after almost a year in captivity.
"Those that were arrested in connection with the incident were brought to the SSS (secret police) headquarters, Abuja yesterday," a security source said.
"In the course of interrogation one of them said
they killed the two guys on sighting the security
men because they were not sure they, too, will survive the attack," he said.
Another security source said: "They are being interrogated to have a complete picture of the whole episode."
"A lot of substantial information is beginning to
emerge from the suspects," he said.
Italy has condemned Britain's failure to warn her ahead of the failed rescue operation, but London said it had been forced by the situation
to act swiftly.
"The behaviour of the British government, which did not inform or consult with Italy on the operation that it was planning, really is inexplicable," President Giorgio Napolitano told reporters on Friday.
"There needs to be a political and diplomatic clarification," he said.
At an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Copenhagen later Friday, Foreign Minister
Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata said he made Italy's feelings clear during talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
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