Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), (a.k.a Doctors Without Borders) has condemned the killing of five humanitarian aid workers in the north-eastern part of the country by Boko Haram insurgents on Tuesday.
Mr Abdulkareem Yakubu, the Field Communication Officer of MSF, who stated this in a statement in Maiduguri, said the humanitarian organisation was horrified by news of the killing.
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He said: “MSF is horrified to hear the news of the killings of the aid workers’’.
The workers came from Action Against Hunger, the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), International Rescue Committee, Reach International and a security guard, protecting humanitarian facilities.
They were abducted last month.
“MSF condemns all forms of violence against humanitarian aid workers and humanitarian assistance in the strongest possible terms.’’
Yakubu said that Dr Christos Christou, International President of MSF, said the group was devastated to hear the terrible news.
“We stand in solidarity and send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of those killed in these brutal attacks.
“This is not the first time we have seen the deliberate targeting and execution of aid workers in Borno.
“These murders come on top of similar atrocities in 2019, in which 12 aid workers were killed.
“MSF condemns, in the strongest possible terms, all violence against humanitarian aid workers,’’ he said.
He added that the attack against aid workers deprives people in need of humanitarian assistance, including access to clean water, food and healthcare.
“In northeast Nigeria, where conflict has raged for more than a decade and the humanitarian crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 10 million people are estimated to be in need of urgent assistance.
“MSF urges that all parties to the conflict must ensure that populations in need have safe and unhindered access to urgent and lifesaving humanitarian assistance.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that MSF is an international humanitarian medical organisation that provides assistance to populations in distress, victims of natural or man-made disasters and victims of armed conflicts, irrespective of race, religion, creed or political conviction.
MSF has worked continuously in Nigeria since 1996 and currently runs projects in seven Nigerian states. (NAN)
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