Killing of Nigeria aid workers poses huge setback

Killing of Nigeria aid workers poses huge setback

Gunmen killed 8 security personnel and three aid staff working for the UN in Nigeria posing a huge setback for the already troubled crisis response unit, security sources told Reuters.

This is the first incident involving humanitarian aid workers that has been publicly-acknowledged by Boko Haram insurgents.

Islamist insurgents arrived in the north eastern Nigerian town of Rann and stormed the nearby military base.  They ignored the camp for 55,000 people displaced by the region’s conflict.

“We are caught in a situation where aid now becomes part of a larger security and political agenda. This presents a huge challenge for us,” said Hugues Robert, an official from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Nigeria.

For humanitarians struggling to reach millions of people, it is another setback for a crisis response that has been criticised for being too slow.

Islamist insurgents arrived in the north eastern Nigerian town of Rann and stormed the nearby military base.  They ignored the camp for 55,000 people displaced by the region’s conflict.

 

Given the precarious situation in the region bordering Cameroon, Chad and Niger, the aid workers in many areas use military escorts and stay on or by bases.

For years, some aid workers had objected to such practices, saying they undermined humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality and put staff at risk.

Zainab Ahmed, the Nigerian minister of state for budget and national planning who is responsible for coordinating the government relief efforts, did not respond to a request for comment about the attack on Rann.

The United Nations, which describes the situation as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, said in February that 7.7 million people in the three most affected states depended on aid for survival.

Since Boko Haram first launched attacks in 2009, more than 20,000 people have been killed, over 4,000 abducted and 1.6 million were still displaced in Nigeria at the end of 2017, according to the United Nations.

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Nigeria United Nations Boko Haram humanitarian aid workers killed

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