By Kingsley Omonobi, Sam Eyoboka & Johnbosco Agbakwuru, with Agency reports

ABUJA — AN international charity group, yesterday, declared that six of its aid workers who were kidnapped in Borno State, Nigeria, last week have appeared in a video, renewing fresh concerns for safety of Leah Sharibu and Alice Loksha, a UNICEF worker.

The group, Action Against Hunger, said the six aid workers, comprising of one staff member, plus drivers and health workers employed locally, were “apparently in a good condition of health.”

It is urging captors to release them.

A screen grab taken from a video released on July 25, 2019 by the IS-linked Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) purportedly shows a female aid worker from the NGO Action Against Hunger (AFC) and five male colleagues kidnapped after their convoy was ambushed in Kennari, a village outside Damasak Town near the border with Niger, northeast Nigeria last week. – Aid group ‘Action Against Hunger ‘ said that one of its staff members along with three health workers and two drivers were missing after their convoy was attacked on July 18, 2019, near the border with Niger. The hostages are believed to be held in the ISWAP enclave on the shores of Lake Chad. ISWAP is a splinter group of Boko Haram that swore allegiance in 2016 to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (Photo by Handout / IS-linked Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) / AFP)

The unverifiable video, seen by the BBC, shows one of the aid workers wearing a light blue hijab, pleading with the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, the federal government and the international community to assist in their release to avoid what happened to earlier aid workers, including Alice and Leah Sharibu.

Osinbajo urges Nigerians to resist divisive agenda(Opens in a new browser tab)

Surrounded by five men believed to be her colleagues, the woman said her name was Grace, and called on the federal government and international community to intervene.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction but it is suspected to be the work of Islamist insurgents.

There are two main groups active in north-eastern Nigeria where the abduction happened – Boko Haram and the rival Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP.

Earlier this week, Action Against Hunger released a statement saying a convoy of its vehicles on the road to Damasak, Borno State, had been attacked, adding that one of the drivers was killed, while the rest of the team were missing.

“These are humanitarian workers who chose to devote their lives to helping the most vulnerable,” the Paris-based charity said in its latest statement released yesterday.

Meanwhile, another entity, the US Nigeria Law Group said, yesterday, that the forensic analysis it conducted on the aid workers’ claim in the video indicated Leah Sharibu has not been killed.

The US Nigeria Law Group said in its report signed by Emmanuel Ogebe yesterday: ‘’A proof of life video released last night (Wednesday) of aid workers abducted last week contains the unsettling report that heroine Christian Schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, has been killed.

Below is our forensic analysis of the said claim:

‘’The video appears to have been released through the recognized conduit of the terror group. However, the video does not contain the watermark signature bearing the emblem of the terror group’s flag. The video does not contain the usual Islamic songs used by the terrorists.

‘’The video does not contain any remarks, input or demand whatsoever from the terrorists themselves. Without clear identification of the abductors in a muddled field of contenders, ransom negotiations can be confusing.  The hostage speaker, Grace, is reportedly one of the recently captured aid workers in an attack on July 18, less than a week to the video recording. She would likely not have any knowledge of or interaction with Leah Sharibu within the space of just six days.

‘’The hostage speaker, Grace, narrated that two Red Cross workers, Hauwa and Zipporah, were abducted and then killed. There was no hostage named Zipporah executed by the terrorists.  The hostage speaker, Grace, said they were held by the “army of Calipha.”

‘’This does not easily identify whether it is the terrorist splinter group, now known as Islamic State West Africa Province or the original Shekau-led Boko Haram. The former abducted Leah, while the latter abducted the Chibok girls.  The statement on heroine Christian Schoolgirl, Leah, and aid worker, Alice’s death, could have been a misconception of the speaker, Grace, erroneously assuming they were killed.

‘’Alternatively, the statement could have been foisted on the hostage as part of psychological warfare and negotiating strategy. It seems out of character for a principled terror group who declared in a message last year that they would not kill Leah and Alice but hold them as slaves to now break their own word. Unlike killer Fulani Herdsmen, the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists have rules of engagement, scruples and codes of honour.

‘’Based on the foregoing forensic analysis, we are unable to conclusively conclude that Leah and Alice are deceased.  There is simply no sufficient or credible evidence to support the report of their deaths.

‘’Accordingly, we urge the international community to continue to pray for and demand her release; we urge Nigerians to protest for Leah, Alice, Grace and others’ release

‘’We condemn the Buhari government’s continuing secrecy on significant military losses that have led to the sacking of entire villages in Chibok and Askira Uba Local Government Areas, Madagali and Gwoza to mention a few. Indeed, the villages of several of the Chibok girls in USA have fallen to Boko Haram and their families displaced in attacks worse than occurred before this administration came in.

‘’We urge continued prayer and support for the Sharibu family whom rather than receive the return of their daughter Leah were subjected to insults by the Nigerian Embassy in USA.  We urge the protection of vulnerable aid workers and innocent civilians.

‘’We seize this opportunity to condemn the non-payment of death benefits to widows and orphans (Next of Kin – NOK) of gallant officers killed in action (KIA) in the war on terror and demand immediate payments thereof.’’

However, reacting to the claim, Defence and Army headquarters said yesterday they were yet to receive briefings on its veracity.

Spokesman of Defence headquarters, Col Onyema Nwachukwu, said he had no information regarding the claim, noting that if he was briefed, he would get back to Vanguard.

Similarly, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col Sagir Musa, said he was yet to receive any information on the alleged killing.

Vanguard, however, gathered that the military authorities were making efforts to get commanders on the theatre of operations to investigate the claim.

New video creates more urgency for security agencies — Presidency

Meanwhile, the Presidency, yesterday, expressed worry over the recent video released by the terrorist group showing some abdupted Nigerians.

The Presidency said that the latest video has created urgency for the security agencies especially the secret services in the efforts to ensuring the release of those on the captivity of terrorist groups.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in Abuja read, “The Presidency has been briefed by the responsible government agency about the disturbing video showing our citizens, the humanitarian aid workers held captive.

“ Presidency has been given assurances that contact is being made and the captors are being talked to.

“Besides these aid workers, there are some others about whom this engagement is about-Leah Sharibu, a religious leader and all the others.

“These discussions have been ongoing even before this time and what this latest incident has done is to bring urgency to the efforts that the secret service is making.

“Government is making contacts, in the hope that the captors will see reason to not visit hardship or even harm on these innocent individuals. Government is working.”

Vanguard