The Nigerian army has neutralized many suicide bomb attempts in the troubled state of Borno, saving several lives in the process.
Nigerian soldiers
The Nigerian Army says its troops in Borno have intercepted and neutralised no fewer than four suspected suicide bombers between Sunday and Tuesday, Premium Times reports.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Sani Usman, said in a statement on Wednesday that one of the bombers was intercepted at Dala as he attempted to cross through troops’ “forward defences.’’
“Upon several challenges and warning shots the suspect refused to halt.
“The suspect who still continued to approach towards the troops’ location was immediately neutralized,” Mr. Usman, a brigadier general, said.
He added that two female suicide bombers were also intercepted and neutralized at Mammanti as they tried to infiltrate and attack the village through troops’ parapet.
“Similarly, the troops of 251 Battalion also intercepted another female Boko Haram terrorist suicide bomber on Monday 17th July 2017 at about 1.49 am between Cimari and No Man’s Land.
“These great efforts of the troops helped to save valuable lives and property,” he said.
The army spokesman appealed to the public to volunteer information to the military and other security agencies to pre-empt suicide bombings and other atrocities by remnants of Boko Haram terrorists.
Use of suicide bombers is one of the major strategies of the Boko Haram whose insurgency has caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009.
The insurgents are still able to carry out attacks despite losing most of the territory they once controlled to Nigerian military.