Suicide bombings return to Nigeria after years of reprieve

By Timothy Olanrewaju

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Suicide attacks returned to Nigeria’s restive northeastern region after nearly five years because of the inability of terrorists to launch conventional attacks, experts told Anadolu on Tuesday.

A retired general and counter-terrorism fellow at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre Abuja, said the killings of dozens of foot-soldiers of Boko Haram and ISWAP -- the West African branch of the ISIS/Daesh -- in recent military offensives have depleted the manpower of the terrorists and put them under pressure to express their presence through suicide bombers.

"The terrorists’ capacity to make and use IEDs (improvised explosive device) has been severely crippled. Almost 65% of their experts have been taken out, hence the use of suicide bombers against innocent citizens," Sani Usman told Anadolu.

The military said June 28 it neutralized 2, 245 Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters during operations. The terror groups have been carrying out violent attacks in Nigeria since 2009.

Hours after the military’s announcement, suspected female suicide bombers detonated explosives in multiple blasts that killed 18 victims and wounded 42 during the weekend in Borno state, a hotbed of terror attacks.

The state emergency management agency said three female bombers sneaked into a wedding party, funeral prayer and a hospital at intervals in Gwoza, a town along the border with Cameroon.

Vice President Kashim Shettima visited the injured at a hospital in Maiduguri, Borno state's capital, late Monday as the death toll climbed to 32.

The attack was the first in nearly five years, after the June 2019 suicide attack at a football match viewing center in Borno. At least 30 victims were killed in that attack.

Nigerians are expressing concern about the resurgence of suicide attacks and the use of women as bombers.

Experts like Usman, said terrorists often resort to the use of women as suicide bombers to divert attention and suspicion because "society is generally sympathetic to women."

Abba Kakami, a war journalist who once had a close encounter with Boko Haram in 2014, and Aliyu Saleh, a resident of Maiduguri, said the group considers women critical to their mission.

"This is why they often kidnap women, girls not only for procreation but for human shields and suicide attacks," said Kakami.

He said Boko Haram believes in kidnapping girls and marrying them to produce children to sustain their mission.