The United Nations has condemned the killing of a humanitarian worker in the Damboa area of Borno State.
A soldier had shot and wounded a United Nations helicopter co-pilot before going on to kill a humanitarian worker on Thursday.
The soldier, it was gathered, killed a fellow soldier at a military base in the state.
The Nigerian Army Theatre Command in the North-East expressed regret over the action of the soldier.
A statement by the command’s Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Major Samson Zhakom, disclosed that the shot pilot had been stabilised, adding that a detailed investigation had commenced into the matter.
The statement partly read, “The Theatre Command regrets to inform the public of a sad occurrence at one of our military bases today.
“The same soldier also killed another soldier and injured the co-pilot of one of the UN helicopters.
“The injured co-pilot has been stabilised while the corpses of the deceased have been moved to the 7 Division hospital.
“A detailed investigation into the incident and subsequent remedial actions have commenced into the highly regrettable incident. Further details will be provided later.”
Reacting to the development, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, in a statement obtained by our correspondent on Friday, described the incident as sad and disturbing.
He said aid workers in the region deserved to be treated with respect.
He said, “Yesterday’s killing of a staff member of the humanitarian non-governmental organisation 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 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.”
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