5 Aid Workers Kidnapped, Killed in Nigeria

Islamic State-allied Boko Haram militants have executed five kidnapped aid workers in northeast Nigeria.

On 8 June, the male workers – who represented the State Emergency Management Agency, Action Against Hunger, Rich International, and International Rescue Committee – were taken hostage in the Nigerian state of Borno.

Demanding $500 000 ransom for their release, the militants then released video footage on Wednesday, 22 July, in which the workers – blindfolded and kneeling before five armed, hooded men – are seen being shot dead.

Two of the five executed men have been identified so far: Luka Filibus and Ishaku Yakubu.

Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, condemned the killings in a recent statement released by Garba Shehu, his senior special assistant.

Explaining that security agencies will work closely with the workers’ organisations, Shehu added: “[Buhari] assures [the workers’ families] that his government will continue to do all it can to ensure that every remaining vestige of Boko Haram is wiped out completely from northeastern Nigeria and that the perpetrators of this atrocity face the law.”

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