The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reacted to the execution of its aid worker, a mid-wife helping people displaced by the insurgency in the North-east, 24 yr old Hauwa Liman.
Red Cross International released a statement saying it was deeply heartbroken when it got the report of the execution of Hauwa Liman.
The statement addressing the death of the twenty-four year old volunteer mid-wife abducted in the company of two other health workers back in March after an attack by Boko haram on the IDP camp where the trio volunteered was issued by the ICRC’s Regional Director for Africa, Patricia Danzi, on Tuesday, a day after Hauwa was killed.
“The news of Hauwa’s death has broken our hearts,” she lamented while asking government authorities to intensify efforts towards tackling terrorism in the country. We appealed for mercy and an end to such senseless murders. How can it be that two female healthcare workers were killed back-to-back? Nothing can justify this,” he said.
Hauwa is the second health worker to be killed by the insurgents in one month after Saifura Hussaini abducted alongside Hauwa Liman was killed on September 16; a third health worker with UNICEF, Ahmed Khorsa is still in the custody of the insurgents alongside Leah Sharibu, the remaining Dapchi schoolgirl abducted by the insurgents in Yobe State in an invasion in February.
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ICRC said it made sustained and committed efforts to secure the release of the three healthcare workers but to no avail including a last-minute plea for mercy on Sunday to the Boko Haram faction – Islamic State West Africa Province group (ISWAP).
Danzi said;
“Hauwa and Saifura’s deaths are not only a tragedy for their families, but they will also be felt by thousands of people in Rann and other conflict-affected areas of north-east Nigeria where accessing healthcare remains a challenge. We urge the group holding Alice and Leah to release them safely.”
The ICRC said further that Hauwa was killed by her captors “in a despicable act of cruelty” while adding that the 24-year-old was full of life, becoming a midwife at an early age.
According to the ICRC, people who knew Hauwa Liman described her as a sociable, dynamic and enthusiastic woman who was much loved by family and friends.
It further noted that Hauwa was truly dedicated to her work, helping vulnerable women in her family’s home area.