Skip to main content

We’ve resolved our problems with UNICEF – Nigerian Army

                                
Days after it accused the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) of aiding terrorism in the North-east, the Nigerian Army says it has resolved its differences with the UN agency.
The army chief, Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant general, stated this on Saturday in Maiduguri.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the army on December 14 announced that it was suspending UNICEF operations in the North-east following the accusations it made. The army did not provide any evidence for the accusations and did not state if it had presidential approval for its action. Hours later, the army announced it reversed the suspension after a meeting with UNICEF officials.
UNICEF is one of the international organisations operating in the North-eastern part of Nigeria to asssit victims of the Boko Haram insurgency.
On Saturday, Mr Buratai said the army would collaborate with United Nations agencies and other organisations to address the humanitarian crisis caused by Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
He gave the commitment at a dinner and media interactive session organised for editors and defence correspondents in Maiduguri.
He declared that: “I assure you that no love is lost between the UNICEF, the Nigerian Military and in particular the Nigerian Army.
“Indeed, in this operation, we will continue to cooperate with them to ensure that we carry out the necessary humanitarian aid and support for the agencies to carry out their responsibilities.
“What transpired is something that could not have happened but at times you have to take necessary steps knowing that the right result would be achieved.
“These are times not within the normal situations, these are times where some many lives were lost.
“This is a time when so many trying activities are taking place, and such times have led to (the) frustration of our efforts in various operations in the northeast.
“It is important to note that whatever we are doing, we are conscious of our international obligations as well as the need to safeguard national security.
“I am sure that the international organizations will not subscribe or allow any actions or inaction’s of certain individuals or groups to jeopardise the national security of the country they operate and this is quite fundamental.
“We understand the challenges and I am happy that the issue has been resolved, the UNICEF and other organisations were not prevented from carrying out their legitimate duties”.
Mr Buratai expressed the hope that the incident would not repeat itself, adding that the Nigerian Army had been participating in immunization and other humanitarian activities in the northeast.
According to him, the army is working in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) and other organisations on routine immunization in the northeast.
The army chief noted that the troops had been at the vanguard of providing support to the organizations in hard-to-reach areas, to enable them to conduct their services.
“The Nigerian Army has been at the forefront where the humanitarian organisations could not reach.
“Our troops, apart from fighting the Boko Haram terrorists, are also carrying out immunization of children in the northeast,” he added.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Parents charged in horrific murder of their 4-year-old daughter who was boiled alive on New Year's day

                      A Michigan couple has been charged with one of the most heinous murders that is being referred to as the "worst child death case" ever after their 4-year-old daughter died in a "scalding bath" in Michigan. Candice Diaz, 24, and Brad Fields, 28, were charged with murder, torture, and child abuse and both denied bail. Gabrielle died on New Year's Day after living a life filled with abuse. Doctors say she suffered multiple injuries, including severe burns on her limbs after she was in a bath with scalding hot water. A medical practitioner, who examined Gabrielle Barrett's body, described the alleged murder as the "worst child death case" in 27 years of his career, according to a court document. The document also allegedly states that the four-year-old was burned so badly that her big toe fell off, and police found melted skin in the drain. Gabrielle's mother, Diaz, and her partner, Fi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mrs Len Burton was a Cotswolds mother of three renowned for her perfect scones - but was also a colonel in Russian intelligence who sent Britain's atomic secrets from her privy

Ben Macintyre's book Agent Sonya tells the story of Soviet spy Colonel Ursula Kuczynski Ben Macintyre's book Agent Sonya tells story of  Colonel Ursula Kuczynski  She lived in Oxfordshire hamlet Great Rollright and was known as Mrs Burton  The spy was on active duty and had radio transmitter tuned to Soviet intelligence She fled to East Berlin in 1950 and retired as a spy before dying in 2000 aged 93 Her scones were the envy of the Oxfordshire hamlet of Great Rollright, where the friendly woman known as Mrs Burton lived in a stone farmhouse. In her late 30s, she moved there with her three children and husband Len just after the end of World War II.  She had a faint foreign accent but the locals took no notice and she soon became a stalwart of village life. They were unaware of the massive secret she was hiding — one that even now, 75 years later, had me reeling in amazement at the audacity and ingenuity it involved on her part.  And the unforgivable treache...
Post a Comment
Read more

Two children who were kidnapped by their househelp in Lagos found in Benin republic

                                         The Lagos state police command have rescued the two children of Mr and Mrs Aneru Mutana of Gbagada Phase 2, Lagos, who were kidnapped by their househelp simply identified as Busayo, on November 26th. A statement from the state police command spokesperson, CSP Chike Oti, says the children were found in the early hours of today December 2nd at a location close to Nigeria Seme border, in Benin Republic. On November 26th, Busola was instructed by Mrs Mutana to go and pick the children from school and take them home as she (Mrs Mutana) wasn't able to do so due to the nature of her job. Unfortunately for Madam, the househelp had carefully planned how to kidnap her children, a 6-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl and executed her wicked plan e...
Post a Comment
Read more