Jihadist Attack: ACF demands release of Health workers abducted by Islamic group
International aid agency, Action Against Hunger (ACF) on Thursday demanded the release of six Aid workers kidnapped in northeast Nigeria and held by jihadists aligned to the Islamic State group.
The six were seized during an ambush on their convoy close to the border with Niger last Thursday in an attack that left another driver dead.
According to The Paris-based charity, a staff member, two drivers and three health workers for one of its projects were in a hostage video released by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group.
The video revealed the female staff member, dressed in a bright blue hijab, sitting on the floor and addressing the camera in English and the five male colleagues sat behind her.
Action Against Hunger in a statement said it “demands the liberation of its staff member and her colleagues”.
It added that “these are humanitarian workers who chose to devote their lives to helping the most vulnerable communities in Nigeria and they are only motivated by the values of solidarity, humanity and neutrality”.
This incidence is the latest of its kind to occur in the conflict-hit region after the abduction and killing of two female workers for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) last year.
The footage of the abductees, authenticated by AFP on Thursday, was released through the same channel as previous videos from the IS-affiliated jihadists.
According to villagers, the kidnapped aid workers were seen with their armed captors passing through the villages of Chamba and Gatafo on the day of their abduction.
The hostages are however believed to be held in an ISWAP (a splinter group of jihadist group Boko Haram that swore allegiance in 2016 to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi) enclave on the shores of Lake Chad.
The jihadists are also holding 15 year old Leah Sharibu (the only Christian among the hostages), the last remaining captive of over 100 schoolgirls kidnapped by jihadists in Dapchi Town, Yobe State.
