One of the victims of last August 26 bombing of the UN House in Abuja has died in South Africa where he had been undergoing treatment of injuries sustained in the blast.
A statement issued by the UN yesterday said the victim, Mr. Sunday Nwachukwu, a staff of United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, died on Sunday, October 9, 2011.
According to the statement, Nwachukwu was one of the first 12 critically injured UN staff members on life support systems who were evacuated to South Africa on air ambulances in August.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Toure, who has consoled the family of the victim, described the late Mr. Nwachukwu as “a hard working colleague and a friendly brother”.
The death toll from the bomb blast now stands at 24, including 12 UN staff and 12 non-UN staff.
Toure expressed the condolences of the the United Nations Country Team in Nigeria (UNCT) to the families of victims, and reiterated the organisation’s gratitude to the authorities and people of Nigeria and other partners for their active support.
He said:
“The devastating attack has taken the lives of our colleagues and partners and maimed many people all of whom were in the building in the pursuit of service to others.
“Their sacrifice will not be in vain; we will strive to pursue our work, the work for the people of Nigeria as prescribed in the UN Charter, which says ‘we the people.”
He reaffirmed that the United Nations System in Nigeria, composed of various agencies and organisations, will continue on its mission to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms.