UNITED NATIONS REOPENS ABUJA BUILDING EIGHT YEARS AFTER BOKO HARAM BOMBING

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock while speaking said “the Nigerian Government handing over this building to the UN is a symbol of our shared commitment to continue supporting the people and Government of Nigeria.”

Penpushing further reports that, the Under Secretary who represented the United Nations Secretary-General at the event also recalled the day “23 people including UN staff and Nigerian civilians died in a suicide car bombing at the UN house in Abuja.

“This was the first attack against a UN facility in Nigeria; the building has since been rehabilitated by the Nigerian Government. Today’s reopening of the UN House in Abuja demonstrates our collective commitment to continue addressing the complex challenges facing Nigeria, West Africa, and the whole world,” he said.

Penpushing also reports that, Lowcock who represented the United Nations(UN )Secretary General, Antonio Guterres stated, “We stand together to say that we will not be cowed by violence. We will continue to support the Nigerian people fulfil their dreams of a future of prosperity and security.

The Under Secretary used the occasion to pay tribute to the 23 UN colleagues, contractors, and visitors who lost their lives on that fateful day, “and the many others who were injured. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten. My thoughts today are above all with the families and friends they left behind’.

“Today, I want to dedicate this official handover of UN House to all those lives were irreversibly changed on that fateful day in 2011. Dayo, an OCHA driver who I spoke to yesterday, was only a few meters away from the explosion. He told me that he does not know how he survived the blast and he still has to undergo regular treatment’.

“Baby Fesse was not even working for the UN. As a student, she had come to do some research and to visit her mother who was working here. Her life was forever changed when she lost her leg in the explosion. The UN House security guards who continue to devote their lives to protect others every day.

“And there are many others to whom we pay tribute today.This re-opening of UN House is one small way we can honor them. But today is not only about the past. Today we must also look to the future,” Lowcock said.

Penpushing recalled that on August 21, 2011, a car filled with explosives rammed into the building, setting off an explosion that killed 23 United Nations(UN) staff, which also include  Nigerians, in the first suicide bomb attack in Nigeria.

 The spokesperson of Boko  as at that time, Haram, Abu Kaka, a day after the sad strike claimed credit for the attack on behalf of his group adding that the attack was carried out to force the government to release the group’s detained members.

“The government must release all our members detained across the country unconditionally before we accept dialogue with the government,” Kaka  said and also warned security agencies in Kano to stop persecuting their members.