From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
National President of the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS), Chief Bolaji Akpan Anani has described the killing of six Red Cross workers during the Rann airstrike tragedy as shocking and unfortunate.
Anani who paid a condolence visit to the Borno State Branch of the Nigerian Red Cross on Wednesday in Maiduguri with the head of delegation of International Committee of the Red Cross Eloi Fillion and head of Cluster of the International Federation of Red Cross, said the loss of the six volunteers in the Rann mistaken aerial bombing by the military as worrisome.
Six Red Cross volunteers whose names were given as Babangida Hassan, Glad Ibrahim, Umar Grema, Mohammed Kumar, Idris Jidda and Jidda Hassan were among the nearly 200 persons mistakenly killed in the airstrike.
Both Anani and Fillion urged the other volunteers not to be deterred by the incident
“We want to say that, we are not going to be dettered in our sustained effort in the fight against insurgency and continue to render humanitarian assistance to victims of insurgency. We are here for solidarity over the unfortunate incident that happened in Rann last week, we therefore convey our condolences to the bereaved families,” they said.
Branch Vice Chairman, Dr Bulama Mali Gubio commended the Red Cross leaders for the visit, saying many of the Red Cross volunteers are still in the bushes and villages rendering assistance to the persons displaced by Boko Haram insurgency.