Three female suicide bombers die in another attack on Maiduguri

Three teenage girls, all armed with explosive devices worn around their bodies, on Tuesday evening detonated their explosives at the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as security operatives tried to stop them from entering the city, police said.

Multiple explosions reverberated across Maiduguri during the late evening rush hour forcing vehicles to screech to a halt as commuters tried to figure from which area the attack may been coming.

It did not take more than a couple of minutes for the city to become aware that the explosions were coming from the southern flank of the city along the Maiduguri-Zambia road.

The Borno State Police Command confirmed later in the night that the explosions came from the suicide bombing attacks attempted by three young girls who may have been prompted by the Boko Haram.

“Today at about 1755 hours (5:55pm), three female suicide bombers, suspected to have been conveyed by motorcycle and dropped at a distance to Maranti village in Molai area, were sighted and intercepted by vigilant security operatives”, said police public relations officer, Victor Isukwu.

“In the process of intercepting them, they hurriedly detonated IED strapped to their bodies, killing themselves only.”

He added that “there was no civilian casualty recorded.”

Police teams were promptly drafted to the scene to sanitise the area, and restore normalcy.

Suicide bombings by teenage girls is one of the major strategies of the Boko Haram. One of such girls who refused to detonate her explosives recently told journalists that she was drugged and charmed ‎and so had little control of her actions.

Her confession gave an insight into why many of the young girls carry out such attacks.

The Boko Haram insurgency, which has caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009, has continued despite the terror group losing most of the territory they once controlled to Nigerian forces.