Army shuts NGO office as militants kill aid worker in northeast Nigeria

The Nigerian army has closed the offices of aid group Mercy Corps in the country's restive northeast, the group said on Wednesday, while Daesh-linked militants executed one of six aid workers they abducted in July in the same area. 

"Mercy Corps is suspending operations in Borno and Yobe States, Nigeria, following the closure of four of our field offices by the Nigerian military," the aid group said in a statement.

It is the second international charity to be shut down this month.

An AFP reporter witnessed soldiers camped at the entrance to the Mercy Corps' office in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

Militants execute ACF worker

Militants linked to a Daesh group killed one of six aid workers abducted two months ago, charity group Action Against Hunger (ACF) said on Wednesday.

"The armed group, holding captive an employee of Action Against Hunger, two drivers and three health ministry personnel, have executed a hostage," the Paris-based organisation said in a statement.

"Action Against Hunger condemns in the strongest terms this assassination and urgently calls for the release of the hostages."

The group said it was "extremely concerned and is fully mobilised to ensure that the remaining hostages can be quickly and safely reunited with their families."

The six Nigerian aid workers ⁠— one woman and five men ⁠— were seized by militants during an ambush on their convoy close to the border with Niger on July 18.

The Daesh affiliate or Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group released a video in the wake of the abduction of the female ACF staff member pleading for the release of the hostages with her five male colleagues behind her.

The kidnapping was the latest to target aid workers in the conflict-hit region after the abduction and killing of two female workers for the International Committee of the Red Cross last year.

Nigeria military shuts down ACF

The announcement of the latest execution comes after the army last week shut down ACF offices in northeast Nigeria, accusing the organisation of supplying "food and drugs" to the militants.

ISWAP is a splinter group of Boko Haram that swore allegiance in 2016 to Daesh leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

It has repeatedly attacked military bases and targeted aid workers in northeast Nigeria.

The decade-long insurgency has killed 35,000 people and displaced about two million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.

Boko Haram militants have abducted huge numbers of women and children across the region.

The group drew worldwide attention with the kidnapping of 276 girls from a school in Chibok in 2014.