Yesterday, a U.S. convoy in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria was brutally attacked. Multiple locally employed staff of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria and members of the Nigeria Police Force were killed, and others who were traveling in the convoy remain unaccounted for.
My thoughts are with those mourning their loved ones or anxiously awaiting word of their family members and friends. I also want to extend my sympathies to the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria as they grieve their colleagues and aid in the search for those still unaccounted for.
I join Secretary of State Blinken in condemning this horrific attack, committed against those seeking to build a better future for the people of Nigeria.
The attack occurred while the convoy was traveling to a USAID-funded project in Anambra that is providing humanitarian assistance to those who remain displaced as a result of last year's historic flooding.
The individuals who were killed paid a great service to both our country and their own, and they should be remembered as heroes who dedicated their lives to building a better future for the people of Nigeria. I hope that we can honor their memory - both by holding those responsible for this atrocious act accountable, and by continuing to foster greater peace, prosperity, and stability in Nigeria and beyond.
