Int’l aid group withdraws its workers from NE Nigeria

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

An international humanitarian aid group on Monday said it has withdrawn workers from a major camp of displaced persons in northeast Nigeria, following the attack by Boko Haram militants.

“Following a violent attack in Rann, Borno state, on 1st March, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) suspended its medical activities in the town and evacuated 22 national and international staff,” the group, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said in a statement.

The move came two days after the Red Cross pulled out its staff from the town citing the same reasons.

At least four aid workers and eight security officials were killed in the attack last Thursday.

Last year, nearly 100 persons including relief workers were killed in an air raid after the Nigerian Air Force mistook the camp for a gathering of Boko Haram militants. Outcome of the probe into the incident remains secret.

The MSF said displaced persons in Rann -- roughly 40,000 who rely on the agency’s humanitarian services -- remain vulnerable, adding that its decision to pull out was “painful”.

“Leaving our patients, which include 60 children […], without medical assistance, is an extremely painful decision,” the statement quoted Kerri Ann Kelly, the MSF’s emergency coordinator in Nigeria, as saying.

The statement said the MSF teams have been providing medical care to the 40,000 people in Rann since January 2017 and added that mobile teams have delivered assistance on a regular basis.

The MSF was mainly treating people suffering from malaria, malnutrition and illnesses linked to poor living conditions.