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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Troops of the 25 Task Force Brigade have gunned down a soldier who opened fire and killed a female aid worker, a fellow soldier and injured a Untied Nations (UN) Staff.
It was learnt that the soldier, attached to the Special Forces, had walked off his base in a remote town of Damboa, Borno State, at about 3pm on Thursday, and went berserk.
The incident, it was learnt, forced officials of some international NGOs waiting to board a United Nations helicopter, to run back to Maiduguri for their safety.
According to reports, after he exhausted his bullet, the soldier brought out a jack knife and stabbed a female staff of Medecins du Monde, in France, who is on a mission to Nigeria, multiple times while injuring the pilot of the helicopter.
The rampaging soldier, again, turned and chased his fellow colleagues before he was gunned down to avert further disaster.
Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, confirmed that the injured pilot and the crew were safely back to Maiduguri while efforts were ongoing to stabilise the wounded pilot at a hospital in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Confirming the incident, the Theatre Command, Operation HADIN KAI, said it regretted to inform the public of a sad occurrence at one of the military bases.
A statement issued by Major Samson Nantip Zhakom, Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Theatre Command Headquarters, said 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 neutralised the errant personnel.
“The injured co-pilot has been stabilised while the corpses of the deceased have been moved to the 7 Division Hospital.
“Detailed investigation into the incident and subsequent remedial actions have commenced into the highly regrettable incident,” Zhakom said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations in a statement issued in Maiduguri by the Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mathias Schmale, on Friday, described the killings as sad and disturbing.
“Yesterday’s killing of a staff member of the humanitarian non-governmental organization Meědecins du Monde in Damboa, Borno State is deeply disturbing and sad.
“On behalf of the United Nations, I convey my heartfelt condolences to the aid worker’s family and to her colleagues. I also wish a speedy recovery to a pilot working with the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) who was injured in the deplorable attack by an apparently rogue soldier.
“All humanitarian staff working in North East Nigeria deserve our fullest respect for their courage and commitment to stay and deliver life-saving assistance to people in need in often difficult and dangerous circumstances. Humanitarian workers must be protected.
“I laud the government and the military’s efforts to speedily investigate yesterday’s incident and urge them to strengthen remedial measures to prevent similar incidents in the future,” the statement read.