NGO demands release of Nigeria aid workers kidnapped by jihadists
Charity group Action Against Hunger on Thursday demanded the release of six aid workers kidnapped in northeast Nigeria and held by jihadists aligned to the Islamic State group.
The Paris-based charity said a staff member, two drivers and three health workers for one of its projects were in a hostage video released by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group.
The video showed the female staff member, dressed in a bright blue hijab, sitting on the floor and addressing the camera in English, with her five male colleagues behind her.
The six were seized during an ambush on their convoy close to the border with Niger last Thursday in an attack that left another driver dead.
Garba Shehu, a spokesman for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, said the authorities were in contact with the captors who were known from previous similar incidents.
“What this latest incident has done is to bring urgency to the efforts that the secret service is making,” he said in a tweet.
The “government is making contacts in the hope that the captors will see reason to not visit hardship or even harm on these innocent individuals.”
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