Red Cross appeals for lives of abducted health workers

The Red Cross yesterday appealed to Nigeria to secure the release of two abducted health workers, as a deadline set by Boko Haram to kill them approached.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spoke out a month after another hostage kidnapped with them was executed by the extremists.

“A deadline that could result in the killing of another health care worker is less than 24 hours away,” said an ICRC statement. “Speed and urgency are critical,” it added. The three female health workers were kidnapped on March 1, in the remote northeastern town of Rann following an attack by ISaffiliated Boko Haram faction.

The raid killed three other health workers and eight Nigerian soldiers.

Two of the kidnapped women, Hauwa Liman and Saifura Khorsa, worked for the Geneva-based humanitarian charity while the third, Alice Loksha, worked for the UN children’s organisation Unicef. There was no news of the trio until last month.

Then the ICRC said it had received footage of Khorsa’s execution from the IS-supported Boko Haram faction — Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). In the footage, ISWAP threatened to kill the other two health workers if their demands were not met.

“The ICRC asks all those involved with this case to avoid a repeat of that devastating outcome,” said Mamadou Sow, ICRC’s head of operations in the Lake Chad region.

The ICRC called on ISWAP to show “mercy” and not to kill two health workers who were “doing nothing but helping the communities in northeast Nigeria”.

“Hauwa and Alice are medical workers who chose to work and help vulnerable communities in Rann, an area heavily affected by violence,” Sow said.