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• FG’ll rout insurgents –Ndoma-Egba
Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja, with agency report
The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons has described as shocking and callous, the gruesome murder of aid workers of the United Nations (UN) rendering humanitarian service in Rann, Kalabalge Local Government area of Borno State.
Three aid workers were killed, three others injured while one is reportedly missing following an attack on Rann on March 1.
One of those who were killed, alongside a nurse, who is missing, were on the frontline providing critical services supported by UNICEF.
The two others who were killed were working for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which is one of the agencies that support humanity around international borders.
Federal Commissioner of the agency, Sadiya Umar Farouq, described the killings as heinous, callous, especially as the aid workers were serving humanity. In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Halima Musa, Farouq said: “On no account should humanitarian personnel be targets of any sort of attack.”
He condoled with the United Nations, the IOM and the Federal Government over the loss and described it as “irreplaceable.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), has condemned last Thursday’s killing of the international aid workers and security personnel in Rann.
In a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by his Special Adviser on Communication, Mrs Clara Braide, Ndoma-Egba expressed deep concern over the incident.
“Aid workers put their lives on the line every day to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable women, children and men,” he said. He expressed “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims and urged authorities to ensure the perpetrators of the crime are brought to justice.
“The NDDC and Niger Delta people sympathise with the government and people of Borno, security agencies, the UN, other development aid agencies, aid workers, international community and the families of victims at this difficult time.”
He assured that the federal government is doing all it can to check the menace of the insurgents.
In January, 2017, Rann recorded a major disaster when a Nigerian Air Force jet mistakenly bombed an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in the community, killing no fewer than 100 people.
