ICRC, US Embassy Condemn Killing of Health Worker by Boko Haram

Ololade Adeyanju & AFP/

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the US Embassy have both condemned the “tragic killing” of a health worker, Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, by Boko Haram terrorists.

Both entities made their stands known in separate statements released in Abuja today.

“We are devastated by the murder of our colleague Saifura,” said Eloi Fillion, the head of the ICRC delegation in Abuja.

Also the US Embassy said in a statement on its website: “We utterly condemn this heinous and inhuman act and stand in solidarity with the ICRC and all those who work in service with the Nigerian people.

“Midwife Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa was providing care to those most vulnerable. This was a senseless murder. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, and to her colleagues, and to those still suffering in captivity.”

No details were given about the circumstances of her death but the ICRC called on the Islamists to release another midwife and nurse still being held.

“There is no ideology or religious law that could justify doing any harm to them,” said Fillion.

The UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, said, “The killing of Ms. Hussaini, a young, dedicated and passionate midwife and humanitarian, is a cowardly, heinous and despicable act”.

“This incident demonstrates the severe challenges that Nigeria continues to face,” he added.

Khorsa, was abducted in Rann, Borno State, on March 1, during an attack by the terrorists

The announcements by the ICRC and the UN are the first public news about the women since they were kidnapped.

Rann is a remote town on the border with Cameroon where more than 60,000 people who have fled from Boko Haram jihadists depend on emergency food aid and medical care to survive.

The Islamist group has intensified attacks in recent months, with the violence spilling over into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

The jihadists have increasingly turned to kidnapping for ransom as a way to finance their operations and win back key commanders in prisoner swaps with the Nigerian government.

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