‘They lost their lives while trying to save IDPs’ — Zulum mourns slain aid workers

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, says he is pained by the execution of humanitarian workers by Boko Haram insurgents. 

The workers were ambushed by the insurgents on June 29, 2020, while traveling from Maiduguri to Monguno. 

In a video, the insurgents said the workers were executed for “working with the infidels.” 

In a statement on Thursday, Isa Gusau, Zulum’s spokesman, said the governor got the news Wednesday evening after he had left Maiduguri for Abuja to meet with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over security matters. 

While delegating some state officials to pay condolence visit to the families of the late workers, the governor said there is a need for a fresh thinking on how to end the killings. 

“Governor Babagana Umara Zulum is deeply pained and extremely worried by the gruesome execution of the aid workers who lost their lives while trying to save IDPs through humanitarian activities,” the statement read.

“The Governor mourns these heroes and shares the grief of their families and employers: Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Action Against Hunger, Reach International, International Rescue Committee, and condoles with the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, (UNOCHA)”, the statement said.

“Governor Zulum wants a new thinking that would hopefully stop these endless killings. We cannot continue to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. The Governor believes in a combination of kinetic and non-kinetic approaches and he is of the position that the Nigerian military has, through its operation ‘safe corridor’, demonstrated its willingness to rehabilitate and reintegrate insurgents willing to stop the killings of fellow humans. 

“The Governor reiterates his call on the insurgents to stop the killings that have been on for 11 years. Zulum also urged all stakeholders to renew commitment to ending the insurgency by being open to new ideas and applying different measures that will hasten good results.”