Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is horrified to hear the news of the killings of five humanitarian aid workers in northeast Nigeria. The aid workers, who came from Action Against Hunger, the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), International Rescue Committee, Reach International, and a security guard protecting humanitarian facilities, were abducted last month.

MSF condemns all forms of violence against humanitarian aid workers and humanitarian assistance, in the strongest possible terms.

“We at MSF are devastated to hear this terrible news,” says Dr Christos Christou, MSF International President. “We stand in solidarity and send our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of those killed in these brutal attacks.”

“This is not the first time we have seen the deliberate targeting and execution of aid workers in Borno state; these murders come on top of similar atrocities in 2019, in which 12 aid workers were killed,” said Dr Christou. “MSF condemns, in the strongest possible terms, all violence against humanitarian aid workers.”

Attacks against aid workers deprive people in need of humanitarian assistance, including access to clean water, food and healthcare. In northeast Nigeria where conflict has raged for more than a decade and the humanitarian crisis has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 10 million people are estimated to be in need of urgent assistance.  

MSF urges that all parties to the conflict must ensure that people in need have safe and unhindered access to urgent and lifesaving humanitarian assistance.