Rann Error Airstrike: 78 Victims Operated Upon, Two Boys Died Due To Serious Injury-OCHA

No fewer than seventy-eight (78) injured people during the military error airstrike in Rnn Maiduguri have been operated upon by the medical team from International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), while two boys in serious condition died from their injuries.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) who disclosed this said as a result of the January 7, airstrike over 107 people were treated, while nine Red Cross volunteers are still in critical state, signaling the scale of injuries in the wake of the airstrike.

“Those who underwent operations had broken limbs, suffered burns or shrapnel wounds.

“A total of 98 people were airlifted for treatment in Maiduguri in three days, most of them children unaccompanied by their families”, OCHA said

Volunteers from the Nigeria Red Cross are looking after the unaccompanied minors.

Six Red Cross volunteers were killed in the bombardment that occurred as they were starting food distribution to displaced people in Rann.

Local volunteers helped complete food distribution to 25,000 people on January 23, six days after the accidental bombing of the camp, which military planes targeted as a Boko Haram camp.

An inter-agency assessment in Rann on 9 January found that around 35,000 people were displaced in the locality, with the majority living in makeshift shelters and lacking sufficient food, water, health and sanitation services.

The military is investigating circumstances that led to the accidental bombing.

Aid agencies have called for better protection of civilians and respect of humanitarian space in the ongoing conflict that has brought deep devastation to millions of people across north-eastern Nigeria.

Up to 8.5 million people need assistance in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in the wake of the long-running conflict with Boko  Haram insurgents.

A projected 5.1 million people will face serious food shortages as the conflict and threat of unexploded devices have hampered farming for a third year in a row.

This year, humanitarian organizations plan to assist 6.9 million people in dire need of nutrition, food, shelter, health, education, protection and water and sanitation, said OCHA.