UN Condemns Aid Worker’s Killing in Borno

The United Nations has condemned the killing of a humanitarian worker in the Damboa area of Borno State.

A soldier had shot and wounded a United Nations helicopter co-pilot before going on to kill a humanitarian worker last Thursday.

The soldier, it was gathered, killed a fellow soldier at a military base in the state.

Reacting to the development, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, in a statement yesterday, described the incident as sad and disturbing.

He said aid workers in the region deserved to be treated with respect.

He said, “Yesterday’s killing of a staff member of the humanitarian non-governmental organisation Médecins du Monde in Damboa, Borno State is deeply disturbing and sad.

“On behalf of the United Nations, I convey my heartfelt condolences to the aid worker’s family and to her colleagues. I also wish a speedy recovery to a pilot working with the UN Humanitarian Air Service who was injured in the deplorable attack by an apparently rogue soldier.

“All humanitarian staff working in North-East Nigeria deserve our fullest respect for their courage and commitment to stay and deliver life-saving assistance to people in need in often difficult and dangerous circumstances. Humanitarian workers must be protected.”

The Nigerian Army Theatre Command in the North-East expressed regret over the action of the soldier.

A statement by the command’s Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Major Samson Zhakom, disclosed that the shot pilot had been stabilised, adding that a detailed investigation had commenced into the matter.

The statement partly read, “The Theatre Command regrets to inform the public of a sad occurrence at one of our military bases today.

“The same soldier also killed another soldier and injured the co-pilot of one of the UN helicopters.

“The injured co-pilot has been stabilised while the corpses of the deceased have been moved to the 7 Division hospital.

“A detailed investigation into the incident and subsequent remedial actions have commenced into the highly regrettable incident. Further details will be provided later.”