ICRC: No Red Cross staff killed in Rann attack
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has denied reports that some the person’s killed by Boko Haram insurgents in Rann village on Thursday were members of its staff.
The attackers killed three UN aid workers, and at least eight police and soldiers.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had said in its report that the ICRC also lost a staff in the attack.
The NAN report was quoted by other news organisations.
But the ICRC in an email complained that the NAN report was in error and that it misled other news media.
“The ICRC/Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) had a food distribution ongoing in Rann throughout the week of the attack,” said Aleksandra Matijevic Mosimann, ICRC’s communication coordinator.
“The staff and volunteers of the NRCS, our partner organization, were present on the ground. All of them have been confirmed physically unharmed.
“At present we remain concerned about the safety of 2 midwives working in a Ministry of Health clinic in Rann, supported by the ICRC, whose whereabouts we don’t know yet.
“We would like to express our sincere condolences to the families of all persons killed or injured in the attack, including the families of the humanitarian workers tragically killed or injured in Rann.”
Nearly 24 hours after the attack, the Nigerian government and the military has not issued any statement to clearly give the actual casualty figure of the attack.
