North-East: Army lifts ban on UNICEF

The Nigerian Army has lifted a ban on UNICEF operations in the North-East, hours after banning the international organisation, accusing it of training “spies” supporting Boko Haram jihadists.
The military earlier on Friday said the United Nations children’s agency had this week held workshops in Maiduguri, Borno State training people for “clandestine” activities that were “sabotaging” counterterrorism efforts.
After a meeting between the military and the aid agency late Friday, Army spokesman, Onyema Nwachukwu, said the ban had been revoked following an “intervention by well meaning and concerned Nigerians”.
“During the meeting, the Theatre Command admonished the representatives of the organisation to desist from activities inimical to Nigeria’s national security and capable of undermining the ongoing fight against terrorism and insurgency,” he said in a statement.
“The Command also urged UNICEF representatives to ensure they share information with relevant authorities whenever induction or training of new staff is being conducted in the theatre,”Nwachukwu said.
He said after extensive deliberations “the Theatre Command has henceforth lifted the three months suspension earlier imposed on UNICEF activities in North-Eastern Nigeria”.
Nwachukwu had earlier said there was “credible information that some UNICEF representatives are indulging in unwholesome practices that could further jeopardise the fight against terrorism and insurgency, as they train and deploy spies who support the insurgents and their sympathisers” and that UNICEF operations would, therefore, be suspended until further notice.