United Nations offices in Abuja, Nigeria were destroyed in a powerful explosion on August 26, 2011. The building was reportedly hit by a truck loaded with explosives. 60 or more casualties are reported, with 10 dead., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Abuja UN office bombing claims one more worker
Thursday, 29 December 2011 00:00 From Martin Oloja (Abuja), Francis Obinor (Lagos) and Emeka Anuforo (Abuja) News -
EU, Germany condemn attack on churches
AS the world condemns the bombing of churches in some parts of Nigeria on Christmas Day by the Boko Haram sect, the United Nations has announced the death of one more person as a result of the attack on the UN House in Abuja on August 26, 2011 by the same Islamic fundamentalist group.
According to a statement, the late United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) official, Mr. Fred Willis, who passed on in South Africa on December 23 was one of the critically injured UN staff members on life support systems who were evacuated to South Africa on air ambulances in August.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Toure, who has consoled the family of the victim, described the late Willis as “a dedicated UN professional who, among other accomplishments, contributed immensely to building the capacity of staff and national institutions in vaccine security and logistics for humanity”.
The statement noted that the death toll from the bomb blast now stands at 25: 13 UN staff and 12 non-UN staff.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has described the Christmas Day bombings as cowardly and expressed a strong backing for Nigeria in its efforts to check the menace of terrorism spreading in the northern part of the country.
In a statement, the Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , Catherine Ashton, expressed shock at the attacks.
Catherine, who is also the Vice President of the European Union Commission said: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms these attacks and all other acts of terrorism. We stand behind the Nigerian authorities in their fight against terrorism, to protect all citizens in particular the most vulnerable and to preserve the right to life and rule of law.”
Also, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Christian Wulff, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to take decisive action against masterminds of the dastardly act, describing the bombing as cowardly and not part of the teachings of any religion. He called on the community of nations to stand together against the terror.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in his reaction lamented the killing of innocent Nigerians by religious extremists and said: “Sadly, even on Christmas Day the world has not been spared the horrors of cowardly terrorist attacks. These things are not only a message conveyed by the Christian Christmas as well as other world religions.
They can also be – for that is indeed the lesson of over 60 years of recent European history – the key to the peace, freedom and prosperity of entire regions.”
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