UNICEF, IOM, UN condemns Rann Boko Haram attack - Risingsuntv

New York – The International Organisation for Migration
(IOM) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have
deplored Boko Haram attack on Rann in Borno.


IOM said: “a large number of Boko Haram members
armed with automatic weapons, rocket propelled
grenades and gun trucks attacked the military base in
Rann’’.













The UN migration agency said some 55,000 people
displaced by the conflict lived in a camp near the base.


“IOM staff reported that during the incident, four soldiers,
four mobile police and three humanitarian workers were
killed and another three humanitarian workers were
injured.
“Two of those killed were IOM field colleagues,’’
Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Director of Operations and
Emergencies said.


“We are outraged and saddened at the killings of two of
our colleagues in an attack by Boko Haram in North East
Nigeria last evening.
“They represented the best in us in assisting displaced
civilians. We will miss them,’’ Abdiker said.
UNICEF, in a statement by Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF
Regional Director for West and Central Africa, also
expressed shock on the attack against humanitarian
workers in Rann.













Poirier said: “UNICEF is shocked by the attack on March
1, in Rann, Borno State, in which three aid workers lost
their lives, three were injured and one is reportedly
missing.


“One of these brave workers who lost their lives, and the
nurse who is missing, were on the frontline providing
critical services supported by UNICEF.
“The two others who were killed were working for the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM).












“We strongly condemn this attack on selfless aid
professionals, who were working in the most difficult
humanitarian conditions.
“Alarmingly, the number of attacks on aid workers is
increasing around the world, and we must stand together
to reaffirm our commitment to protect them.
Humanitarian workers should never be a target.














“UNICEF offers its deepest condolences to the families of
the victims and to all IOM staff members. We will
continue to work with the Government to ensure safe
return of those missing.”
The UN statement, issued by its Humanitarian
Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, had also strongly
condemned the killing of the three aid workers in Rann
town.












“Three aid workers were also injured, and a female nurse
is missing and feared to have been abducted,’’ Kallon
said.
He said the UN was also concerned about other civilians
who may have been injured or killed in the attack.
“Two of the deceased aid workers were contractors with
the International Organisation for Migration (IOM),
working as coordinators in a camp in Rann for 55,000
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
“The other aid worker was a medical doctor employed as
a third-party consultant with the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF),’’ Kallon said. (NAN)