UN, Amnesty International, Red Cross condemn killing of abducted midwife by Boko Haram

By Chizitelu Munachimso

Three international organisations, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Amnesty International (AI), and the International Committee for the Cross(ICRC) on Monday strongly condemned the killing of Saifura Khorsa by terrorist group, the Boko Haram.

Khorsa, 25 year-old aid worker, who was on duty with the ICRC in Borno State, North East of Nigeria, abducted along two other female midwives on March 1, 2018 in Rann following an attack by the terrorist group. Three persons died in that attack.

In a statement on Monday, Edward Kallon, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, described the killing of Khorsa as despicable.

“The killing of Ms. Hussaini, a young, dedicated and passionate midwife and humanitarian, is a cowardly, heinous and despicable act,” said Mr Kallon. “Our deepest condolences go to her family, including her two young children, and friends. The United Nations calls on authorities to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice and account. The United Nations also calls for the immediate release of the two aid workers who are still being held,” Kallon said.

Kallon said the killing of the aid worker demonstrates the severe challenges that Nigeria continues to face with regard to the insurgency but noted that the international community would not be deterred from providing aid to millions of Nigerians caught up in the conflict in the north-east.

“The United Nations stands in solidarity with the humanitarian community,” Kallon added.

Also reacting to the killing, the ICRC with whom the slain aid worker was on duty, said it was devastated by her demise.

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

“Saifura moved to Rann to selflessly help those in need. Our thoughts are with her family and other loved ones at this incredibly difficult time, ” he added.

The ICRC boss in Nigeria said that the time of her abduction, Khorsa alongside Hauwa Mohammed Liman and Alice Loksha, a nurse working in a UNICEF-supported centre (the ladies were also abducted with her), were providing essential antenatal care to communities in Rann, whose population has more than doubled after an influx of people fleeing violence.

“We urge those still holding our colleague Hauwa and Alice: release these women. Like Saifura, they are not part of the fight. They are a midwife and a nurse. They are daughters, a wife, and a mother – women with families that depend on them.

“Their families and friends miss them dearly and will not give up the hope of seeing them again soon. There is no ideology or religious law that could justify doing any harm to them,” Fillion said.

Fillion said Saifura 25 was a devoted mother and midwife who adored her two children, a two-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl.

“The children have not been able to comprehend their mother’s absence, as they frequently asked their grandmother if a passing plane was bringing their mother home. That grandmother must now find the words to tell two children their mother will never return,” Fllion stated.

He said since the women’s abduction six months ago, the ICRC has made sustained and committed efforts to secure the three health care workers’ release and will continue to do everything in its power to ensure that Hauwa and Alice are released and can return to their families immediately.

Amnesty International for its part, described the killing of Ms Khorsa as a “horrific act.”

Osai Ojigho, head of the human rights watchdog in Nigeria condemned the brazen disregard for life exhibited by the Boko Haram.

“Amnesty International strongly condemns the recent killing of Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, a midwife and aid worker, by Boko Haram. By this horrific act, Boko Haram has once again proven its brazen disregard for sanctity of life which must not go unpunished,” Ojigho said in a statement issued on Monday.

She said that under international humanitarian law, aid workers like late Khorsa and her colleagues must be protected from attack, and must not under any circumstance be targeted. She noted that since Khorsa was providing desperately needed humanitarian services to people affected by the conflict in the northeast, her “senseless killing” amounted to a war crime.

“Boko Haram must immediately and unconditionally release the remaining two health workers abducted alongside Saifura. Now more than ever the authorities must do more to rescue the hundreds of civilians held by Boko Haram, also including Leah Sharibu who was abducted from her school in Dapchi town and the remaining Chibok girls”, Ojigho said.

She said those responsible for war crimes and other serious human rights violations and abuses must be brought to justice in a free and fair trial.

Also on Monday, the Nigerian government strongly condemned the killing of the ICRC aid worker. Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu in a statement said the killing was reprehensible.

“The government of Nigeria strongly condemns this reprehensible and inhuman act. No religion permits the killing of the innocent. Saifura worked for the Red Cross, a humanitarian organisation tirelessly working to bring succour to all the victims of violence irrespective of the sides of the conflict,” Shehu said.

The humanitarian community is currently providing life-saving assistance, including food, safe water and medicine, to over 60,000 internally displaced people in the camp in Rann, and millions more across the north-east. Some 3,000 aid workers are present in the north-east, the majority of whom are Nigerian nationals.

The humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s north-east, that has spilled over into the Lake Chad region, is one of the most severe in the world today, with 7.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2018 in the worst-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, and 6.1 million targeted for humanitarian assistance.