[ad_1]
Women sit amidst the ruins of a market destroyed by Boko Haram in the state of Borno in Nigeria in September. (Audu Marte / AFP / Getty Images) (AUDU MARTE / AFP / Getty Images)
This article has been updated.
Hauwa Mohammed Liman and Alice Loksha traveled to the Nigerian city of Rann to help.
The military outpost in Borno State is home to about 80,000 refugees displaced by the nine-year-old Boko Haram insurgency. Liman and Loksha worked as nurses, helping to give birth and provide basic services.
In March, Rann was attacked by Boko Haram activists. They killed dozens of people, including three United Nations personnel. Liman and Loksha were kidnapped, as was Sifura Khorsa, another aid worker.
Khorsa, a 25-year-old nurse, was executed on 16 September. At that time, Boko Haram had warned that other abductees would be killed in a month if his demands were not met.
The Nigerian government confirmed that at least one of the other two aid workers was killed by Boko Haram on Monday. In a statement issued in London, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described the killing as "despicable, inhuman and unholy".
"The federal government has done everything that a responsible government should do to save the humanitarian worker," he said.
The statement did not identify the woman killed.
On Sunday, officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that women could be killed on Monday. In a statement released Sunday, the ICRC solicited help from the Nigerian government and the clemency of activists. "Speed and urgency are essential," he writes.
Sending to the kidnappers, the group wrote, "We urge you to pardon. We urge you not to kill another innocent health worker who was only helping the community in northeastern Nigeria. "
Liman, 24, worked as a midwife in a public health center funded by the ICRC. Loksha was working as a nurse in a UNICEF-supported center.
Leah Sharibu, a Christian student who was abducted in February and refused to convert to Islam is also being held by Boko Haram.
"The terrorists threatened to kill Leah in October if they received no response to their requests. Time is running out – that's why I'm asking the government to keep talking to them, "Leah's father, Nathan, told CNN. "Our daughter is under sentence of death."
Residents and aid workers say Boko Haram has continued to carry out deadly attacks on villagers and military officials. The Boko Haram uprising killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2 million, according to Al Jazeera.
Borno was particularly touched. More than half of the state's health facilities are closed. The open facilities are overwhelmed.
"We are concerned that many people in the region will not have access to medical support if the region becomes too dangerous for the staff," said ICRC spokesman Aleksandra Mosimann at the New York Times. .
Read more:
This little-known conflict in Nigeria is now more deadly than Boko Haram
How to understand Boko Haram
Surviving Boko Haram children tell their horrible stories and urge lawmakers to save others
[ad_2]Source link
