UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan "strongly condemns the killing of Emmanuel Sharpulo and Musa Kita, Liberian nationals, and Kaare Lund, a Norwegian national, three humanitarian workers of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), who were brutal
U.N. Secretary-General Koffi Annan “strongly condemns the killing of Emmanuel Sharpulo and Musa Kita, Liberian nationals, and Kaare Lund, a Norwegian national, three humanitarian workers of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), who were brutally killed in eastern Liberia,” Annan’s spokesman Fred Eckhard announced March 11.
“The Secretary-General extends his deepest sympathy to the families and colleagues of these three humanitarian workers, and demands that the government of Liberia determine the exact circumstances under which the incident took place, and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Eckhard continued. Annan “further calls on all parties to the conflict in Liberia to reinforce measures taken to ensure the protection of civilians, including relief workers,” he said.
Sharpulo, acting ADRA country director for Liberia; Lund, ADRA director for Norway; and Kita, ADRA chief driver were killed in an outbreak of rebel fighting on their way to a Norwegian-funded ADRA refugee shelter project in the area of Toe Town, in eastern Liberia.
Resurgent fighting along the border between Liberia and the Ivory Coast has caused 2,500 Ivorian and other West African refugees to flee and has displaced an estimated 8,000 people from the local community.
“ADRA workers operating in war-torn regions are increasingly at risk of being in harm’s way, but are dedicated to relieving the suffering of refugees and others affected by war,” said Charles Sandefur, ADRA International president.
“Emmanuel, Kaare, and Musa were doing just that when they lost their lives, and we honor their commitment to demonstrating God’s love in war-torn Liberia. At the same time, we recognize that each of them derived an invaluable source of strength and courage from their families, and we mourn with them at this time,” Sandefur added.
In a statement, ADRA commended both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross for coordinating and carrying out the search for the agency’s workers under extremely dangerous conditions.
“Their courageous efforts have provided ADRA and the families of those who lost their lives with the opportunity to grieve,” the statement said. “In the wake of this terrible tragedy, ADRA’s commitment to the people of Liberia is strong and unswerving.”
ADRA’s statement quoted Kaare Lund, as recorded in his trip report upon his return from Liberia late last year: “Technically, we ought to withdraw from all of Liberia, but they need help more than any of the others we are working with. If everyone pulls out, theirs is a destiny no one deserves! We should press on.”
Lund, who was 53, began his work with ADRA in 1989 as country director in Pakistan. His wife and three adult children survive him.
“Kaare Lund was fully dedicated to his duties, and his tragic and untimely death is a blow to the ADRA network as well as to the church,” said Harald Wollan, executive secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European region.
“With his enthusiasm for relief work, Kaare has been able to create a ‘contagious’ attitude to ADRA work among a generation that grew up admiring him as ‘Mr. Pathfinder leader.’ He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him,” Wollan added.