Fidelis Soriwei and Jesusegun Alagbe
A suspected female suicide bomber who was intercepted in northern Cameroon on Friday before she could blow herself up claimed to be one of the 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok, North-East Nigeria in April 2014, military and local government sources said.
According to a Reuters report on Friday, two girls carrying explosives were stopped by local self-defence forces in the village of Limani in northern Cameroon.
They were then handed over to Cameroonian soldiers belonging to a multi-national force set up to take on Boko Haram.
Boko Haram militants raided Chibok, Borno State in April 2014, abducting about 300 schoolgirls, who have since been in their captivity.
Despite several promises by former President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari, the girls have yet to be found.
“One of them indeed declared that she is one of the Chibok hostages. She is around 15. We are now verifying, because on the Nigerian side they have the names and photos of these girls,” a local government administrator, Raymond Roksdo, told Reuters.
Two military sources, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the press, also confirmed that the girl had claimed to have been one of the Chibok abductees.
“We need a few days to be able to confirm this information. We have to debrief all the men who were present and interrogate the two girls before we can say anything,” one of the military sources said.
Meanwhile, the troops of the Nigerian Army have killed two female suicide bombers who were allegedly planning attacks in Borno State.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said that soldiers of the 7 Division Garrison, Maiduguri, on Friday intercepted the two female suicide bombers around 1.20 am south of Umurari village on the outskirts of Maiduguri.
Usman said that while one of the female suicide bombers detonated the explosives strapped to her body and killed herself on sighting the soldiers, the other was taken out by one of the snipers of the garrison.
He said that the combined team of the army and the Police Explosive Ordinance Disposal detonated the explosive device that was strapped to the body of the late female suicide bomber.
He said the troops and the members of the Civilian Joint Task Force were combing the area to prevent a further breach of peace there.
He said, “The ever alert and vigilant troops of 7 Division Garrison based in Maiduguri, in conjunction with Civilian JTF, averted yet another suicide attack on the innocent citizens of Borno State today.
“The troops intercepted two female suicide bombers at about 1.20am this morning, almost 100 metres south of Umurari village, outskirts of Maiduguri.
“However, one of the suicide bombers, on sighting our troops, detonated her explosive device, killing herself instantly, while the second bomber, in an attempt to escape, was gunned down by one of the garrison snipers.
“The combined team of the Nigeria Police and the Nigerian Army’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal team safely detonated the unexploded Improvised Explosive Devices strapped on the gunned down suicide bomber.
“It is important to state that there was no casualty beyond the two suicide bombers. Presently, the troops and the Civilian JTF deployed in the village are now combing the general area to forestall further breach of security.”
Suicide bomber detained in Cameroon says she’s one of Chibok girls
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