The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has appealed to the Federal Government to speed up efforts towards the release of two medical workers and Leah Sharibu abducted in North-East of Nigeria earlier this year by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
ICRC also called on communities and individuals of influence to join in the efforts towards the release of the people.
Three aid workers – Hauwa Mohammed Liman, Alice Loksha and Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa – were abducted in March 2018, while Leah Sharibu was abducted with 108 other students from Dapchi Girls School in February.
While some of the Dapchi girls have been released, Leah has remained in captivity for failing to renounce her religion.
Khorsa on the other hand was killed by her abductors in September.
The appeal came as the October deadline given by abductors of the two remaining aid workers and Leah Sharibu draws nearer.
“To the holder of these kidnapped women, ISWAP (Islamic State’s West African province group): We urge you for mercy. We urge you to not kill another innocent health care worker who was doing nothing but helping the community in North-East Nigeria,” ICRC said in the letter.
Addressing the abductors, Director of ICRC Operations in Africa, Patricia Danzi, said: “We urge you: spare and release these women. They are a midwife, a nurse, and a student. Like all those abducted, they are not part of any fight. They are daughters and sisters, one is a mother – women with their futures ahead of them, children to raise, and families to return to.”
Head of ICRC’s Operations in the Lake Chad Basin, Mamadou Sow, in his appeal said: “Hauwa and Alice are medical workers who chose to work and help vulnerable communities in Rann, an area heavily affected by violence. The town’s population has more than doubled because of the conflict, while most local health-care staff have fled. These women were providing essential and life-saving services to thousands of people, displaced and resident alike. All they sought to do was to help.”
The body therefore pleaded with the abductors to release the women even as it urged all those involved in negotiations to do everything within their powers to ensure none of the remaining workers and Leah Sharibu are killed.
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Below is the full text of the letter
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is making an urgent public appeal to the Nigerian Government and to communities and individuals with influence to work toward the release of two committed medical workers abducted in north-eastern Nigeria earlier this year. Speed and urgency are critical. A deadline that could result in the killing of another health-care worker is less than 24 hours away.
To the holder of these kidnapped women, ISWAP (Islamic State’s West African province group): We urge you for mercy. We urge you to not kill another innocent health care worker who was doing nothing but helping the community in north-east Nigeria.
Hauwa Mohammed Liman worked in a hospital supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) when she was abducted on 01 March with Alice Loksha, a nurse who worked in a centre supported by UNICEF.
“Hauwa and Alice are medical workers who chose to work and help vulnerable communities in Rann, an area heavily affected by violence”, said Mamadou Sow, the head of ICRC’s Operations in the Lake Chad Basin. “The town’s population has more than doubled because of the conflict, while most local health-care staff have fled. These women were providing essential and life-saving services to thousands of people, displaced and resident alike. All they sought to do was to help.”
A third healthcare worker abducted alongside Hauwa and Alice – ICRC colleague Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa — was killed by her abductors in September. The ICRC asks those involved with this case to do everything they can to avoid a repeat of that devastating outcome. Leah Sharibu, a 15-year-old school student, was taken from her school in Dapchi in a separate abduction incident in February. She is also being held by the same armed group and everything must be done to ensure she too is released promptly and unharmed.
“We urge you: spare and release these women. They are a midwife, a nurse, and a student. Like all those abducted, they are not part of any fight,” said Patricia Danzi, Director of ICRC Operations in Africa. “They are daughters and sisters, one is a mother — women with their futures ahead of them, children to raise, and families to return to.”
