The United Nations has denounced the killing of one humanitarian worker abducted in July by members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in North-Eastern Nigeria.
“The United Nations calls on authorities to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice…(and) for the immediate release of all aid workers who are still in captivity,” Kallon said in New York on Wednesday.
The country’s humanitarian coordinator expressed concerns about the increasingly dangerous and restrictive operating environment in crisis-affected areas where aid workers strive to deliver urgent and life-saving assistance.
The humanitarian community in Nigeria is working in line with the 2019-2021 Humanitarian Response Strategy, jointly agreed with the Government of Nigeria, to provide life-saving assistance to 6.2 million of the most vulnerable people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, Kallon said.
A video which made the rounds on the internet showed the execution of one of six aid workers taken as hostages by the terrorists who said their action followed a breakdown in negotiation with the Nigerian government.
The humanitarian workers were ambushed by members of the militia on their way to Damasak by Keneri-Chamba ward in Borno State two months ago.
The workers, one woman and five men, had in an earlier video published by ISWAP called on the government to secure their release, but a secret negotiation by Nigeria’s government failed to lead to the death of a worker, the terrorists said.
Following the killing, the Paris-based Non-Governmental Organisation which confirmed the death without giving up the identity of the worker called for the release of its other employees whilst condemning the act.
“Action Against Hunger condemns in the strongest terms this assassination and urgently calls for the release of the hostages,” the charity said Wednesday.
