Boko Haram: Troops arrest suspected female suicide bombers

Soldiers have arrested some females suspected to be Boko Haram’s suicide bombers in the Northeast.

The arrests were made during the ongoing combing of Boko Haram cells in the region, it was learnt yesterday.

The suspects are currently undergoing screening just as the Defence Headquarters vowed to regain control of Marte, Borno State, which fell into the hands of the terrorists last Friday.

The DHQ said there was no cause for alarm on the purported gathering of the insurgents in Marte, which was liberated some months back.

Speaking on the arrest of the female suicide bombers, a highly placed source said: “A few of these suspected female suicide bombers have been arrested by troops and they are being questioned and screened accordingly.

“The nature of this insurgency is that the innocent can be the most dangerous.

“But many of them intercepted during encounters with troops have become weak and might not be able to survive.

“This is why we are paying more attention to the profiling of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are coming into camps. Some of these IDPs are suspects but we have been painstaking enough to detect them.

“We have placed all IDPs on surveillance. We do not want the gains recorded by the military to be wiped away by Boko Haram infiltrators posing as IDPs.”

Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters yesterday said there was no cause for alarm over the alleged reassembling of Boko Haram insurgents in Marte, Borno State.

The DHQ said efforts were on to sack the fleeing insurgents from the


In its twitter handle, the Defence Headquarters gave insights into why the fleeing insurgents were able to relocate to Marte.

The DHQ said: “There has not been any static deployment of troops in Marte for quite sometimes in line with the need to emphasise more aggressive patrol of many threatened isolated communities while the assault on the forests and mountain hideouts of terrorists is ongoing.

“Only occasional patrols and surveillance have been undertaken towards the area as the bulk of troops are engaged in the operation to clear the terrorists from all identified enclaves in the forest

“Besides, Marte had been deserted by citizens most of whom had fled to other towns while others are in IDP camps located in Maiduguri and other places.

“It is understandable that those terrorists escaping from the offensive operations in Sambisa and other enclaves are looking for place of respite.

“They must have found the Marte deserted and decided to harbour there.”

The DHQ assured Nigerians that the insurgents will be flushed out of Marte.

It added: “Now that their presence is reported, the issue will definitely be addressed in a very short while.

“There is really no cause for alarm in the way some reports are presenting this situation as if it is a meaningful resurgence of terrorists. This will only fool the terrorists and their sympathizers into false celebration

“There will certainly be no respite for terrorists anywhere in Nigeria. Wait and see.”