The call of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the government and members of the public to rescue Hauwa, a 24-year-old Nigerian medical worker Hauwa Liman, in the North-eastern part of Nigeria has proven futile.
Nigerians have since the turnout of events taken to their social media to show their disappointment:
Funmi Iyanda (@Funmilola): I’m very sad they executed Hauwa. She was only 24 and doing her job.
Alice the 3rd captive is a mum of 2 whose mother has already died unexpectedly from the trauma of her capture. Leah is still captive. Truly saddened.
Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki): I join Nigerians and the international community in condemning the murder of Hauwa Leman- an aid worker with @ICRC, by Boko Haram.
Gimba Kakanda (@gimbakakanda): Hauwa Liman’s tragic end is quite a traumatising story, for someone who put herself in harm’s way to contribute to solving our humanitarian crisis. May her family find the strength to overcome this huge loss, this other betrayal of a citizen by the Nigerian state.
Dr Olusegun Mimiko (@Segunmimiko): Announced execution of Hauwa Leman of @ICRC heartbreaking! Government appears helpless as lives are wasted needlessly. The FG must ensure the release of Leah Sharibu and others still being held captive. This cycle of bloodletting must be broken. May she Rest In Peace.
Igala_King (@I_Am_Ilemona): Na shiga uku. Na shiga uku“
Hauwa repeatedly said on that audio. She kept saying she was in big trouble as the gunshots became louder and voices became more audible. You could hear that she was mortified. Nigeria failed this woman. Failed her badly
Dr Chima Matthew Amadi (@AMADICHIMA): Hauwa Leman executed by ISWAP according to reports. We had 10 days to save her life but we were busy. Busy with politics; busy with useless Executive Order; busy with nothing. Sorry Hauwa, Nigeria failed you, like we failed Anita yesterday and countless others.
Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks): Dear President Buhari, It is with a very burdened heart, that I beg of you this day, to please do everything possible to get #LeahSharibu and #Alice (the #TwoRann humanitarian aid workers) out of the den of their captors today.
Give them the justice of rescue. Please.
Dr Dípò (@OgbeniDipo): Hauwa Leman, an aid worker with the Red Cross has been reportedly killed by the bastard #ISWAP. My her soul rest in peace. If she was a child of the elite, perhaps there would be more urgency and this wouldn’t happen.
Alice Loksha, a nurse working for the United Nations (UN) agency Unicef at Rann, Borno State, faces the same fate if she is not rescued. It should be recalled that Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, a colleague was executed in September by the Islamic group.
Hauwa Liman and Alice Loksha
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the government did everything within its power to rescue her while describing the act as “dastardly, inhuman and ungodly”.
“It is very unfortunate that it has come to this. Before and after the deadline issued by her abductors, the Federal Government did everything any responsible government should do to save the aid worker.
“As we have been doing since these young women were abducted, we kept the line of negotiations open all through. In all the negotiations, we acted in the best interest of the women and the country as a whole.
“We are deeply pained by this killing, just like we were by the recent killing of the first aid worker. However, we will keep the negotiations open and continue to work to free the innocent women who remain in the custody of their abductors.
“The town’s population has more than doubled because of the conflict, while most local health-care staff have fled. These women were providing essential and life-saving services to thousands of people, displaced and resident alike. All they sought to do was to help,” Mamadou Sow, the head of ICRC’s Operations in the Lake Chad Basin wrote.