Despite all pleas locally and internationally to save her life, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a faction of Boko Haram, has executed Hauwa Leman, an aid worker with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The sad incident, came on the same day the terrorists also vowed to keep Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi schoolgirl, as “a slave for life,” according to the report, which narrated how in a short clip, Leman was seen being forced to kneel down, with her hands tied inside a white hijab which has a crest symbol, and then shot at close range.
In September 2018, the insurgent group killed Saifura Ahmed one of the three humanitarian workers abducted in Rann, Kala Balge local government area of Borno state, in March 2018, in a similar manner.
Leman, a 24-year-old midwife and student of health education at the University of Maiduguri, was in the group that was abducted.
Four soldiers, four policemen and three humanitarian aid workers were killed in the attack.
Toafic Toure, ICRC operational communication delegate, Maiduguri sub-delegation, had on Sunday pleaded with the federal government to avert Leman’s killing as the Monday deadline given by the insurgents approached.
ISWAP, in a short statement, said: “We have kept our word exactly as we said, by killing another humanitarian worker, Hauwa Leman, who is working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that were abducted during a raid on a military facility in Rann, Kala Balge in March 2018.
“Saifura and Hauwa were killed because they are considered as Murtads (apostates) by the group because they were once Muslims that have abandoned their Islam, the moment they chose to work with the Red Cross, and for us, there is no difference between Red Cross and UNICEF.
“If we see them, we will kill the apostates among them, men or women, and chose to kill or keep the infidels as slaves, men or women.”
On Sharibu, the only Christian among the 110 girls abducted at the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018, kept back because she refused to renounce her Christian faith, and for which the world have continued to plead on her behalf, the deadly group said, has also remained adamant.
It threatened to keep her and another Christian abductee, Alice Ngaddah, a Christian who works with UNICEF, as a slave. “From today, Sharibu, 15, and Ngaddah, a mother are now our slaves. Based on our doctrines, it is now lawful for us to do whatever we want to do with them,” the group further said.
And reaction came quickly from the government, ”It is very unfortunate that it has come to this. Before and after the deadline issued by her abductors, the federal government did everything any responsible government should do to save the aid worker.
This was the reaction of the Federal Government on Monday to the killing of Hauwa Liman, a staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who was abducted recently and eventually killed on Monday by the dreaded terrorist organisation, Boko Haram, rampaging parts of the North East.
The government conveying its position through a statement issued in London on Monday, by Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, described the killing as “dastardly, inhuman and ungodly,” saying nothing could justify the shedding of the blood of innocent people.
He commiserated with the family of the aid worker, and said the federal government did all within its powers to save her life.
”As we have been doing since these young women were abducted, we kept the line of negotiations open all through. In all the negotiations, we acted in the best interest of the women and the country as a whole.
”We are deeply pained by this killing, just like we were by the recent killing of the first aid worker. However, we will keep the negotiations open and continue to work to free the innocent women who remain in the custody of their abductors,” the minister said.
He thanked all the friendly governments that have continued to work with Nigeria for the safe release of the abducted women, and the clerics across religious lines who have been pleading for their release.
The Boko Haram insurgency has caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009, according to the Borno State Government.
Despite the efforts of security forces, the insurgents still carry out attacks on civilian and military targets in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
Leah
