Statement by the Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, on the killing of an aid worker in Damboa, Borno State

Yesterday’s killing of a staff member of the humanitarian non-governmental organization 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 (UNHAS) 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.

I laud the Government and the military’s efforts to speedily investigate yesterday’s incident and urge them to strengthen remedial measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

For further information, please contact:
Ann Weru, Head of Public Information, UNOCHA Nigeria, Email: weru@un.org, (+234) 703 852 2706 OCHA press releases are available at unocha.org or reliefweb.int