TERRORISTS ABDUCT NEWLY MARRIED UN STAFF, BEST MAN IN BORNO
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) jihadists have kidnapped a newly married UN staff and his best men in Borno State while returning from the wedding ceremony.
According to humanitarian and security sources, the groom who was identified as an employee of the UN World Food Programme, and the best man, his colleague from the International Committee of the Red Cross, were abducted by the terrorists on Wednesday, around Jakana village in Borno State.
"ISWAP terrorists took the two aid workers hostage at a checkpoint they mounted near Jakana," a UN source told AFP.
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The source explained that the victims were returning to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital from the wedding which was held on November 28 in Adamawa State when they were stopped at a bogus checkpoint around 12:30 pm.
A military source in Jakana confirmed the kidnap of "two humanitarian staff by ISWAP terrorists."
After the incident on Wednesday, the UN on the same day issued a memo informing its staff about the abduction of a "UN national staff embarking on a private trip… by NSAG (non-state armed group)".
The memo however did not state which UN agency the abducted staff worked for.
The UN said the incident happened along the 120-kilometre Maiduguri/Damaturu highway which passes through Jakana.
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In a statement on Friday, ISWAP claimed responsibility for the abduction, saying it seized "two Christians working for the Red Cross organisation".
The group said the incident occurred at a checkpoint between the village of Mainok and Maiduguri.
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