I was sent on suicide mission for refusing to marry Boko Haram commanders, says teenager

A suspected female suicide bomber says she was chosen to commit suicide after turning down marriage proposals from three Boko Haram commanders in Sambisa forest.

The 14-year-old suspect said was was chosen by Boko Haram leaders to detonate an improvised explosive device (IED) in Maiduguri, together with two other suspects.

She was arrested by the military when the trio allegedly came for a suicide mission in Jakana, Maiduguri.

The suspect said she and her father, Usman, were running to Mandara mountain for safety when they were abducted in Gwoza, Borno, in 2013.

The suspect said they were about travelling to Madagali in Adamawa state, where her father normally sold cows before Boko Haram insurgents attacked Gwoza.

“I have spent three years in the hands of Boko Haram. Three different Boko Haram (terrorists) had proposed to marry me and I refused. Two among them were commanders (amir),” the suspect told NAN.

“When I refused for the third time, one of the commanders became furious and threatened to kill me and my father. I told him I would rather die than marry a Boko Haram (terrorist).

“So, after one week, they said since I have refused to get married, I should be taken to Maiduguri for a suicide mission. So, three of them held my hands and they injected me.

“Then, I never knew what was happening again.

‘’I was taken to a herbalist, who, after I regained consciousness, told me that I had been with him for 30 days.

“He told me he was preparing me for a mission. So he gave me some water to drink. I don’t know what it tasted like but I drank it. So, he said they would come and pick me today.

“At about 7pm, three Boko Haram (members) came with a male and a female. They were also recruited for the mission like me.

“We spent one and a half days on the road to Maiduguri. It was when we got to Maiduguri that they strapped the bombs on our bodies. At that moment I knew that I was going to die, so I started crying.

“I was watching when the first bomber, a female, detonated her explosive close to a military checkpoint which killed no one but herself. The second, a male, was killed by the military before he could detonate his.

“At that time something told me to remove my own IED and surrender which I did. I was surrounded by soldiers and policemen and I fainted.

“When I woke, I discovered that one of the policemen at the checkpoint was my mother’s brother. I think that was the reason I survived.”

Meanwhile,  Lucky Irabor, theatre commander of operation Lafiya Dole, said the suspects were being de-radicalised at the military detention facility.

“We have quite a number of them here in our facility. We have been profiling them and making them feel comfortable,” Irabor said.

“So far, from their testimonies, they usually tell us that they were brainwashed by some sort of charms to commit suicide.”