Soldier kills humanitarian worker, injures pilot in Borno

A soldier working in the frontline operations in the Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State in Northeast Nigeria has reportedly killed a humanitarian worker and injured a helicopter pilot.

MAIDAWAAREWA learnt that his colleagues took him down before he perpetrated further damage.

The incident, according to sources, raised a serious crisis among the humanitarian workers in Damboa as the lady killed was an expatriate from Ethiopia, and the injured pilot was attached to the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) lifting humanitarian staff from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to the deep field for humanitarian assistance.

Although there was no evidence of any engagement that may have resulted in the action taken by the soldier, reports put that he was depressed, having been at the battle front for a long time.

Investigation carried out by MAIDAWAAREWA revealed that the lady was working with a French organization, Medicine de Mondene (MDM). According to findings, she was stabbed four times by the soldier, who afterwards turned on the pilot and injured him.

“She was not a UN staff but the pilot is. We could not fetch reasons for the action rather than put that the soldier was depressed. For now, I cannot tell you their names as we are yet to complete our investigation on the matter. This is rather sad but we hope that the Nigerian authority will do sometime to stop aggressiveness against humanitarian workers by some men in uniform and to take a step in ensuring the need is done for soldiers in such conditions,” a source said.

The incident happened at about 3:00 pm. The soldier reportedly stabbed the international staff after he had exhausted his bullet firing at the humanitarian helicopter that wounded the pilot.

“It was after he had exhausted his bullet that he turned on the international staff with a jack knife and stabbed her four times to sniffout life in her,” another source told MAIDAWAAREWA.

The Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Major Samson Nantip Zhakom, confirmed the incident in a statement.

“The Theatre Command Operation HADIN KAI regrets to inform the public of a sad occurrence at one of our military bases today. A soldier shot and killed a staff of one of the NGOs providing humanitarian support in the North East.

“Same soldier also killed another soldier and injured the co-pilot of one of the UN helicopters. Own troops on the ground immediately neutralized the errant personnel”.