The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken has condemned the attack on the American convoy to Nigeria, noting that his country would walk with Nigeria’s authority to bring those responsible to justice.
Some unknown gunmen had on Tuesday attacked a convoy of two US government vehicles in the Ogbaru local government area, in Anambra state.
The convoy was carrying nine Nigerian nationals: five employees of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria and four members of the Nigeria Police Force. They were traveling in advance of a planned visit by U.S. Mission personnel to a U.S.-funded flood response project in Anambra.
Reacting to the attack, Blinken on Wednesday noted that the United States took the security of her personnel seriously, and as such would leave no stone unturned in bringing the perpetrators of the attack to book.
”We do not yet know the motive for the attack, but we have no indications at this time that it was targeted against our Mission. The assailants killed at least four members of the convoy, and U.S. Mission personnel are working urgently with Nigerian counterparts to ascertain the location and condition of the members of the convoy who are unaccounted for.
” We condemn in the strongest terms this attack. We will work closely with our Nigerian law enforcement colleagues in seeking to bring those responsible to justice”, he said.
The US Secretary of State also expressed condolences to the families of those who were killed in the attack and pledged to do everything possible to rescue those missing.
“The United States has no greater priority than the safety and security of our personnel. We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the attack and pledge to do everything possible to safely recover those who remain missing. We deeply value our relationship with our Locally Employed Staff and our partnership with Nigeria.
“The United States reaffirms its commitment to the people of Nigeria to assist in the fight against violence and insecurity. ” US Secretary of State reiterated.
