Terrorists kidnap 4 aid workers in Nigeria’s northeast

Terrorists have abducted four aid workers and a private security worker in northeastern Nigeria, the hostages said in a video made public on Monday, June 29, 2020.

According to the video seen by Reuters, The hostages identified themselves and said they work for different organizations.

The video shows their heads and shoulders against leafy plants outdoors.

The hostages said they work for the following aid groups: Action Against Hunger, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and REACH.

“I am appealing to the International Rescue Committee to come and rescue me,” said one of the hostages, who gave his name as Luka Filibus.

While the hostages did not name Islamic State or Boko Haram, they referred to their captors as soldiers of the “khalifa”.

Human rights groups have condemned the conditions in a host of internally displaced persons camp in the northeast (Reuters) AFP

Captives have used the term to refer to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), rather than Boko Haram.

The IRC and Action Against Hunger said in separate statements that they are working to secure the release of their abducted colleagues.

An unsafe region

The latest abduction underscores the risk aid workers continue to face in the region.

Aid workers tending to hundreds of displaced persons in the region are often exposed to abductions, torture and sometimes deaths.

In December of 2019, terrorist Boko Haram sect killed five of the six aid workers abducted months before.

Three women and girls walk home in Maiduguri, Borno, on September 4, 2019. One woman had been abducted by Boko Haram as a girl, and then detained for 15 months by the Nigerian military after escaping. Another spent two years in in detention [Tom Saater/The Washington Post] Pulse Nigeria

In the same month, the terrorists abducted five more aid workers.

Nigeria has waged a decade-long insurgency against terrorists who intend to carve out a hardline Islamic state from Nigeria’s northeastern region.

The insurgency has spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The Nigerian military has touted recent victories against the sects, but terrorists remain capable of mounting attacks in remote communities while abducting unarmed civilians.