Borno explosions: ICRC supports treatment of 41 wounds victims

From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri

The surgical team of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nigeria has joined the local medical team in Borno to support the treatment of 41 wounded victims of the Gwoza bomb blasts.

ICRC in a statement said it supported the State Specialist Hospital of Maiduguri where the victims are admitted, in performing life-saving surgeries.

“ICRC is supporting in providing emergency treatment for people who were critically injured during the blasts in the town of Gwoza in the north-east,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

A total of 41 patients, including children and women, were brought to the hospital in Maiduguri weekend few hours after the multiple blasts that killed 32, according to the global volunteering body said.

“It is heart wrenching to see civilians killed and wounded,” said Diana Japaridze, Deputy Head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Maiduguri.

Japaridze reintrated ICRC principle of neutrality in conflict, calling on parties in the Northeast violence to spare women and children, and respect hospitals “sanctuaries of life, not scenes of deadly violence.”

Last weekend, multiple explosions detonated by suspected female bombers hit a wedding party, crowd of sympathisers at a funeral event and hospital in Gwoza, a town about 129 KMS to Maiduguri the state capital, killing no fewer than 32 persons and injuring at least 41.

Neither Boko Haram ot its rival, Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) clam responsibility.