The United Nations System in Nigeria yesterday confirmed nine of its staff dead in Friday’s suicide bombing attack on its office. It, however, added that the casualty figure may rise when more information is gathered from hospitals, staff and their families.
The nine deaths confirmed does not include the death of non-UN staff, including security men and visitors, who were in the building at the time of the attack. UN also said it would continue its operations in Nigeria and would not be deterred by the terrorist attack.
Acting Resident Coordinator for the UN System in Nigeria, Ms. Agatha Lawson, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said dozens more were injured and currently hospitalised, adding that the situation is still being assessed with efforts being made to ensure that the affected people are receiving medical care and support.
“These deaths and injuries are a grievous blow to the UN family and our national partners. We have lost motivated, bright, selfless people who were working only for the good of Nigeria and the world. Our priority now is to ensure those who are injured and the families of those who died are cared for,” Lawson said.
Condemnations have continued to trail the attacks.
Russia condemned the bombing as a “senseless barbaric act”. The Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Sergey Lavrov, in a letter to Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru, assured of his country’s solidarity and willingness to further pursue the consolidation of the international efforts to fight terrorism.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, has called on Nigerians to donate blood to help the treatment of survivors of the blast. She disclosed that the federal government was doing all it could to ameliorate the suffering of those affected and their families.
Speaking with newsmen at the National Blood Transfusion Service, where she went to donate blood yesterday, Onwuliri added that donations of blood and syringes were already being made to the NBTS.
Minister of Interior, Comrade Abah Moro, who also donated blood at the centre, said security of the country is a shared responsibility of all Nigerians, adding that steps would be taken to ensure the safety of life and property in the country.
“I want to assure you also that those who perpetuated yesterday’s act and those who were behind those other ones in the past certainly will not escape the wrath of the law. The federal government is taking adequate steps to ensure that those behind these acts are brought to book,” he said.