UN Condemns Killing of Aid Workers in Borno

Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, has condemned the killing of three aid workers in Rann town in Borno State, North-east Nigeria, calling for the prosecution of perpetrators.

The aid workers were killed on Thursday night following an attack by a Non-State Armed Group on the military facilities next to the town. Three aid workers were also injured in the aattack, and a female nurse is missing, who was feared might have been abducted.

In a statement on Friday by Samantha Newport, Head, Communications, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Kallon was quoted as saying: “Aid workers put their lives on the line every single day to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable women, children and men.

“Our deepest condolences go to the families of the victims and our brave colleagues and we call on authorities to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice and account.”

The statement revealed that two deceased aid workers were contractors with the International Organisation for Migration, working as coordinators in the camp for 55,000 internally displaced persons who have fled their homes as a result of the ongoing conflict.

The other deceased aid worker was a medical doctor employed as a third party consultant with UNICEF. The United Nations is also very concerned about other civilians who may have been injured or killed in the attack.

The statement lamented that humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s North-east that has spilled over into the Lake Chad region, is one of the most severe in the world today, with 7.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2018 in the worst-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, and 6.1 million targeted for humanitarian assistance.

It said: “Now in its ninth year, the crisis shows no sign of abating. Close to 80,000 people, including 55,000 internally displaced persons, currently reside in Rann and are supported with humanitarian assistance.

“The United Nations and non-governmental humanitarian organisations are working across the north-east of Nigeria to provide aid, including food, safe water and medicine, to some 6.1 million people in need in the North-east. Some 3,000 aid workers are present in the North-east, the majority of whom are Nigerian nationals.”