The attack on Rann was methodical and violent. ISWAP -- a faction that had split from Boko Haram over ideological differences and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State -- launched an armed assault that killed civilians and aid workers before the three women were seized. Hauwa, Saifura, and Alice had been working in one of the most dangerous aid environments in the world, providing healthcare to people living in displacement camps where medical resources were desperately thin. Their abduction was not incidental to the attack. It was part of a deliberate strategy. ISWAP used hostages as leverage, issuing statements and videos demanding ransom and accusing the aid workers of collaborating with those the group considered enemies. The three women -- who had been caring for the most vulnerable people in a conflict zone -- became bargaining chips in a war they had only tried to alleviate.

After the abduction, ISWAP released statements threatening to harm the hostages if their demands were not fulfilled. Local and international organizations appealed for negotiation. The Red Cross made urgent public pleas. The deadlines came and went, and the militants escalated. In September 2018, ISWAP executed Saifura Khorsa -- a warning, the group said, to pressure the Nigerian government and humanitarian agencies into compliance. The execution of a humanitarian worker delivering medical care to displaced families was condemned internationally, but condemnation alone could not save the remaining hostages. On October 15, 2018, ISWAP carried out its threat against Hauwa. The group attributed her killing to the Nigerian government's failure to meet their demands, claiming that her association with the Red Cross and the government's alleged non-compliance justified her execution. Amnesty International called it a war crime. The fate of the third abductee, Alice Loksha, remained unknown.

It is important to say who Hauwa Mohammed Liman was before she became a headline. She was a nurse who chose to work in a conflict zone. She was a midwife -- someone whose profession is defined by bringing life into the world. She was a student, still pursuing her education while simultaneously serving others. The people she treated in the displacement camps of Borno State were among the most neglected populations on earth -- families driven from their homes by a war that had already killed tens of thousands, living in overcrowded camps where disease and malnutrition were constant threats. Hauwa went to them. She did not have to. Many aid organizations had pulled out of the most dangerous areas of northeastern Nigeria. She stayed, and she paid for that commitment with her life.

In 2019, the International Committee of the Red Cross posthumously awarded Hauwa the Florence Nightingale Medal -- the highest international distinction a nurse can receive. Her colleague Saifura Khorsa received the same honor. The medals were presented to Hauwa's parents by the President of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Bolaji Anani, and the ICRC Head of Delegation, Eloi Fillion, in a ceremony in Maiduguri. President Muhammadu Buhari condemned her killing and pledged to bring those responsible to justice. The United Nations and human rights organizations called for better protections for aid workers in conflict zones. But the structural conditions that made Hauwa's murder possible have not disappeared. Northeastern Nigeria remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for humanitarian workers, and the people they serve remain among the most in need. Hauwa's name, her work, and the manner of her death stand as a reminder of what is asked of those who choose to help -- and what is sometimes taken from them.