March 2, 2018
By Jutah Gupah, Maiduguri
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, has condemned the killings of four aid workers in Rann, a border town of Borno State. An aid worker, was also injured in Thursday night, when the Boko Haram insurgents attacked the Ran Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp with capacity of over 55, 000 persons. A female nurse attached to the IDPs camp, was feared abducted by the armed insurgents. Ran is farming and herding community, and 175 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the state capital. Kallon made the condemnations on Friday in a statement of UN Spokeswoman, Samantha Newport, and issued to journalists in Maiduguri. According to him, aid workers put their lives on the line every single day to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable women, children and men. “Our deepest condolences go to the families of the victims and our brave colleagues and we call on authorities to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice and account,” said Kallon in the statement. He further disclosed that two deceased aid workers were contractors with the International Organization for Migration, working as coordinators in the camp. He said the IDPs fled their homes as a result of the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed many lives and property in Borno state. “The other deceased aid worker was a medical doctor employed as a third party consultant with UNICEF,” he said, adding that the UN is also concerned about other civilians who may have been injured or killed in the attack. The military in Maiduguri was yet to respond and confirm the killings of aid workers and other civilians affected in Thursday’s attack on the military post in Ran. He said the humanitarian crisis in the North-East, which has spilled over into the Lake Chad region, is one of the most severe in the world today. “Over 7.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2018 in the worst-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, and 6.1 million targeted for humanitarian assistance,” said the UN humanitarian coordinator. He said now that the insurgency is in its ninth year, there are no signs of abating to restore peace in the Northeast and Lake Chad regions. He further disclosed that over 80,000 people, including the 55,000 IDPs, currently reside in Rann and being supported with humanitarian assistance. “We’re working across the north-east of Nigeria to provide aid, including food, safe water and medicine, to some 6.1 million people in need in the northeast,” said Kallon, adding that 3,000 aid workers are present in the regions, with majority of them are Nigerians. An anonymous member of Civilian JTF also told The Guardian that eight soldiers were killed in the attack but there was no immediate official confirmation. “Four aid workers were killed, one aid worker was injured and one aid worker is missing, feared abducted,” Kallon in the statement. He further disclosed: “Of the aid workers that were killed, two worked for the IOM (International Organization for Migration) in camp management; and one was a medical doctor working as a third party consultant for UNICEF.” No details were immediately available for the fourth feared killed aid worker; but Newport said the injured and missing were both women. She said all those involved were Nigerians. Boko Haram fighters killed nine people from the Rann internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in September last year, as they worked on farms just outside the town. In January last year, a Nigerian air strike intended to hit Boko Haram insurgents and killed no less than 112 people, while aid workers were distributing food. The military however referred to the bombing as, a mistake and blamed “the fog of war.” The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) board of inquiry later blamed “lack of appropriate marking of the area” for the bombardment and an unexpected gathering of people in Ran.
