The government of the United States of America has offered to assist Nigeria fish out those involved in the killing of four embassy staff of its consulate in Nigeria, an act which it condemned in its entirety, though claiming not to be aware of the motive.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who spoke on the development, confirmed in a statement on Wednesday, that unknown assailants attacked a convoy of two US government vehicles in the Ogbaru Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, made up of five employees of the US Mission to Nigeria and four members of the Nigeria Police Force killing four of them, out of which four were killed.
Explaining that the nine passengers, were all Nigerian nationals, Blinken, stated that the personnel, were travelling in advance of a planned visit by US Mission personnel to a U.S-funded flood response project in the state
He said: “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 US 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. The United States has no greater priority than the safety and security of its personnel, the secretary of state maintained.”
Expressing heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the attack, the US pledged to do everything possible to safely recover those who remained missing, adding: “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.”
– Media Report