No fewer than 25 girls have died suicide bombing missions in January in different areas of Borno and Adamawa states.
The statistics of the female bombers, which was compiled from the releases by Operation Lafiya Dole, the military operation ongoing in the North-East, and sources at the army headquarters, showed that the suicide bombers died around markets, motor parks and mosques.
The sudden increase in female suicide bombers had made military checkpoints stricter in the North-East, as nursing mothers and babies are no longer sparred during the search.
The Operation Lafiya Dole releases showed that on January 1, 2017, three female suicide bombers were killed in a market around Banki Dutse village in Borno State, after detonating their Improvised Explosive Device vests.
On January 4, another three female bombers, who were on their way to Gulak market in the Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State, died while being intercepted by vigilance group members.
Also, from the army release, on January 8, two female bombers died in a park around Kalari area of Maiduguri, after detonating their vests, which killed two residents of the area.
On January 13, another three female suicide bombers died in the Madagali area of Adamawa State, killing two vigilance group members.
Similarly, on January 16, a female bomber and a boy struck at a mosque near Gate 1 in University of Maiduguri, Borno State, killing a university lecturer and two others.
The source at the army headquarters told our correspondent that there were other isolated cases, which were not reported.
He said, “Since the accidental bombing at the Rann IDPs camp on January 17, the troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole have encountered more cases of female suicide bombers during the clearance operations. But there has not been any briefing to address them, so that we do not distract the investigations on Rann. But in all January, we cannot have less than 25 female suicide bombers.”
On Tuesday, January 31, another female suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Dalori quarters in Maiduguri, killing a worshipper. – Punch.
