A British aid worker from South Manchester died after being caught up in a gun battle between police and “bandits” trying to raid a resort in Nigeria, an inquest heard.

Faye Mooney, 29, was killed along with her boyfriend, Nigerian national Matthew Oguche, during the attack on Kajuru Castle, a resort in northern Nigeria’s troubled Kaduna state.

The couple were “caught in gunfire” when a gang of around ten men said to be armed with AK-47s entered the grounds of the resort at around 10.30pm, Manchester Coroner’s Court heard.

A gunfight broke out with two armed policemen, who were acting as security for the resort and Ms Mooney and her boyfriend left their room.

Ms Mooney, who worked for US-based aid agency, Mercy Corps, died from gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, following the attack on 19 April 2019.

The hearing was told the raid was not terror-related but motivated by “kidnap and ransom”, which had been a problem in that part of Nigeria.

Det Chief Inspector Ben Cottam, of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said he was part of a mutual legal assistance procedure with Nigeria and received updates about what had happened.

He said: “I think it is fair to say in the information I have, the death of Faye was a result of criminal and unlawful acts both in the criminal law in Nigeria and UK law.”

The inquest heard Ms Mooney had an extensive career in international aid, having worked previously in Kurdistan and the Balkans.

After schooling in Manchester, Ms Mooney was a graduate of University College London and the London School of Economics and was working as Mercy Corps’ communication specialist in Nigeria having been at the organisation since 2017.

Her career included teaching in Iraq and working in Kosovo to combat human trafficking.

Dyah Audu, giving evidence via video link, said he was the security manager for Mercy Corps in Kaduna state at the time.