One killed, six others missing as Boko Haram attacks NGO convoy in Borno

One person was killed and six others are missing after a convoy of humanitarian workers in Borno State was assaulted by suspected Boko Haram militants.

The attack on the international nongovernmental organization Action Against Hunger took place on Thursday, but the details were only just made public yesterday.

A group statement on Friday said one of three drivers was killed in the assault in a convoy carrying humanitarian workers, while others were missing.

Shaswat Sharaf, the organization’s country director, said in the statement that the aid workers were on their route to Damasak, 157 km from Maiduguri, a border community.

“One of the drivers was killed, while one Action Against Hunger staff member, two of the drivers and three health workers are missing,” he said.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident as these are colleagues dedicated to providing life-saving assistance to individuals and families affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the northeast of Nigeria.

“We are very concerned and want to ensure that they are safe and can be reunited with their families.”

In most parts of the volatile northeast, Action Against Hunger has been active in offering humanitarian services in the fields of nutrition and health, water sanitation and hygiene for quite a while now.

A decade of attacks by Boko Haram, the terrorist group responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions of people, have affected Borno State and neighboring Yobe and Adamawa.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report early July that the conflict in the Lake Chad region was far from over following the resurgence of attacks by the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP), backed Boko Haram.

Despite the statement of the Nigerian government that it defeated the group, the attacks persisted.

In the region, the insurgents have also targeted aid workers.

Some UN aid workers were killed in a night attack by Boko Haram militants in Rann community in Borno’s Kala Balge Local Government in March 2018.

Three Red Cross workers were kidnapped in 2018 and one of them was later shot dead by the group.

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