At least three humanitarian workers and a Nigerian soldier were on Tuesday abducted by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in the northern part of Borno State, officials confirmed.

Humanitarian workers travelling under a military escort, from Maiduguri to Monguno in the northern part of Borno, ran into an ambush that led to the abductions.

The concerned organisations have been silent about the incident days after it happened.

The Borno State government has, however, confirmed the development.

It is not clear which of the humanitarian organisations the two abductees work for. But the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) confirmed that one of the three aid workers was their official.

The Executive Chairperson of SEMA, Yabawa Kolo, described the abduction as “sad and very unfortunate”.

Mrs Kolo told journalists that her organisation has since “reported the matter to the police and other security agencies.”

She said security agents are currently working on information received from the driver of the car, “who was spared by the insurgents.”

Abduction

PREMIUM TIMES gathered from sources familiar with the incident that the travelling aid workers were on Tuesday waylaid at about 11 a.m. at a location in Guzamala local government of Borno.

“They forcefully disarmed the soldier and took away three other aid workers, but left the driver of the vehicle,” an operative of Civilian-JTF who asked not to be named said.

“Two of the civilians work with NGO and one with SEMA, but I am not at liberty to mention the name of the NGO – that’s the warning we received from the security agents investigating the matter,” the source added.

But when our reporter contacted the Borno State police command, the spokesman, Edet Okon, a deputy superintendent of police, said he was not aware of the incident.

The army spokesman, Sagir Musa, also said he was not aware of the incident.

The UN office for coordination of humanitarian affairs has not reacted yet. Officials at the UN body did not respond to calls from our reporter.