…decry Boko Haram attack on humanitarian workers
Following the deadly attack on a military base in Rann last Thursday by Boko Haram terrorists, the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has suspended medical activities to over 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno State.
Over 40,000 people residing in Rann had been largely relying on the organisation’s services. According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Thursday’s attack claimed the lives of four mobile police officers and three humanitarian workers.
“Following a violent attack in Rann, Borno state, on Thursday, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) suspended its medical activities in the town and evacuated 22 national and international staff,” MSF said in a statement.
The statement noted that it was still unclear how many people had been killed and injured in the attack, adding that before leaving, the MSF staff had provided medical assistance to nine wounded patients. “Leaving our patients, which include 60 children currently enrolled in our nutrition programme, without medical assistance, is an extremely painful decision.
“We will continue to evaluate how the situation evolves and we will return as soon as the conditions allow,” MSF Emergency Coordinator in Nigeria, Kerri Ann Kelly said in the statement. The official pointed out that the latest attack was a “stark reminder” that the people in Borno State are “trapped in a deadly cycle of violence.”
“This latest attack is a stark reminder that it is the people in Borno who are paying the price of this ruthless conflict. They are trapped in a deadly cycle of violence and are heavily reliant on external assistance to survive. In Rann, this is now considerably reduced.
“MSF teams have been providing medical care to the 40,000 people in Rann, since January 2017. Mobile teams delivered assistance on a regular basis, and a permanent medical team has been based in Rann since September 2017. The people in Rann are extremely vulnerable, many have sought shelter there after fleeing their homes,” Kelly added.
The MSF staff have been providing medical assistance to the people of Rann, near which a camp hosting around 55,000 displaced individuals has been located, since January 2017. Nigeria has been facing the insurgency of the Boko Haram jihadists, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) terror group.
The group has staged a number of violent attacks, including the 2011 bombing of a UN office in the country’s capital of Abuja, which killed 21 people, and the abduction of almost 300 girls at a school in the town of Chibok, located in Borno, in 2014.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative (PCNI) has commenced free medical outreach for 5,000 IDPs and the less privileged in Gombe State. The committee Vice- Chairman, Alhaji Tijjani Tumsa, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen after inspecting the venue of the outreach in Gombe.
The committee vicechairman said that about 70 health workers and volunteers, as well as 30 doctors were deployed to work at the camp. He said that the target was to attend to 5,000 people. He commended the people for behaving orderly, urging them to remain calm to access the free healthcare.
.new telegraph
