POLICE EXPLAINS WHY BOKO HARAM NOW USE FEMALE BOMBERS

POLICE EXPLAINS WHY BOKO HARAM NOW USE FEMALE BOMBERS

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The Police Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, on Wednesday in Abuja said international terror organisations use female suicide bombers in attacks because they are less suspicious.

Mba, who spoke at the National Information Centre, said though unfortunate, the use of females in suicide attacks was not new.

“Established international terror organisations use female suicide bombers, the major reason is because women generally raise fewer suspicion.

“If you have been following the trend of terrorism worldwide, you will understand that the use of a female suicide bomber is not new.

“But, it is a new trend in our own part of the world”, he said.

The force spokesperson, however, said a new counter-terrorism strategy was being developed to address the new trend in the country.

“We are developing counter-terrorism strategies to deal with that. By our rules of engagement and by our culture too, male security operatives generally are not allowed to search females.

“You will see increase in female security personnel on roads and in other places where stop and search exercises are being carried out.

“Nigerians should be prepared to see more female police officers, bomb disposal experts, DSS operatives and soldiers in combat operations’’, he said.

Mba appealed to parents and local government authorities across the country to support efforts to stamp out street hawking by young girls, particularly among minors.

Earlier, the coordinator of the centre, Mike Omeri, said the insurgents had resorted to using young girls because something went wrong with their strategy.

“This trend of using young people clearly shows that there is something wrong with the main recruitment arm of the insurgents.

“Citizens are becoming more aware and so the tendency is to recruit those who do not know what they are doing, young people as young as 10 years.

“Boko Haram is so deadly and this underscores the seriousness of the campaign that our country is engaging in order to flush out the insurgents”, he added.