Girl dies as Army prevents suicide bomb attack in Adamawa

Troops of the 143 Battalion of the Nigerian Army prevented a suicide bomb attack in DAR village, Adamawa State, by killing a would-be suicide bomber before she could detonate her explosive vest.

According to an official Army statement, the girl was neutralised while trying to infiltrate DAR village with a person-borne improvised explosive device on Monday, November 26, 2018.

"The gallant troops in conjunction with hunters and vigilantes immediately cordoned off the incident area and subsequently conducted perimeter patrol around the community to ensure the area is cleared and to also exploit the area for BHT activities," the statement read.

The incident comes two weeks after troops of 251 Task Force Battalion foiled a suicide bomb attack made by a 19-year-old teenage girl in Maiduguri, Borno State on November 13.

The girl, identified as Shaidatu Adamu, was arrested by troops when she attempted to infiltrate Maiduguri to detonate her suicide vest.

Shaidatu Adamu, suicide bomber caught by troops of the Nigerian Army ece-auto-gen

She confessed to troops that she was from Gwoza, Borno and had been in Sambisa Forest with Boko Haram terrorists for about three years.

The terrorist group has been notorious for using female suicide bombers to carry out attacks on civilian and military targets. The group has abducted more than 1,000 children in Nigeria since 2013, according to a UNICEF report.

Between April 2011 and June 2017, the terrorist group used a record 244 female suicide bombers to attack in the northeast region where it majorly operates.

While some of the suicide bombers may have willingly signed up, many are believed to be forced to strap bombs to their bodies and carry out attacks.

Some have been known to run to security operatives to assist in detonating their vests while others detonate when confronted by operatives.

Since the terrorist group's insurgency escalated in 2009, tens of thousands have been killed with millions also displaced and scattered over internally displaced people's camps across the country.