Gunmen Attack UN Team Near Nigeria-Cameroon Border

Yesterday, along the Nigeria-Cameroon border, gunmen attacked a United Nations monitoring team, killing five people. According to a statement provided by the UN, three of the five were Nigerians, and one was Kenyan.

Mohamed Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa said in a statement:

“According to preliminary reports, at around 14:00 hours, yesterday (Tuesday), an unknown armed group attacked a UN Technical Monitoring Team, killing five individuals – a UN independent contractor, three Nigerians nationals and one Cameroonian national – and injuring several others.”

The team were in the process of demarcating and delineating the Nigeria-Cameroon border in adherence with the judgement of the International Court of Justice.

“The team was conducting a field mission in the vicinity of Hosere Jongbi, near Kontcha, Cameroon, about 700 kilometres north of the capital Yaoundé, as part of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission mandate,” Chambas added.

Othman Abubakar, Adamawa State Police Command spokesperson, is the person who confirmed the killing, but said he had not received full details.
The UN “strongly condemned” the attack, offered condolences to the families of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.