Boko Haram: 10- year- old suicide bomber kills 20 The terror sect, Boko Haram, yesterday let loose a 10 year old female suicide bomber in Maiduguri, killing at least 20 people. Scores of others were injured in the explosion at a crowded poultry market in the Borno State capital at about 12.20pm. Two other suicide bombers, arrested by police in a vehicle, blew themselves up in the main police station in Potiskum, in neighbouring Yobe State. The Maiduguri market was targeted twice in a week by female bombers late last year. Civilian vigilante Ashiru Mustapha said the powerful explosion rocked the market when it was packed with traders and shoppers, adding that the girl “was about 10 years old”. A Red Cross official, who declined to give his name, said: “We have so far evacuated 10 bodies to the mortuary at the (Borno) State Specialist Hospital.” Borno State police spokesman Gideon Jubrin said yesterday that the girl suicide bomber let off an improvised explosive device near the market. A security source, said the suicide bomber’s body was “completely shattered.” “Because of the high calibre explosive she strapped to her body, the upper part of her body was flung apart and found about 500 metres away,” the source said. The explosion triggered a fresh wave of panic in the city, coming so soon after Wednesday’s massacre of residents in the fishing town of Baga by Boko Haram. Up to 2000 people are feared killed in the attack during which the insurgents also seized the military base in the town. Amnesty International called the attack the deadliest massacre since the sect launched its terror six years ago. The Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN) shared the AI’s position and wondered what the rest of the world is “waiting for before taking drastic actions.” The group, in a statement, said the Baga massacre and last week’s terror attack in France “deserve the attention of all people of goodwill across the world.” It added: “The numbers are adding up fast and it is becoming clearer and clearer that the Nigerian governments both federal and states are failing resoundingly in their responsibility to protect innocent lives and prevent these mass atrocities from going forward. These atrocities are increasingly becoming worse and worse as the times go by. He who feels it knows it! “According to the United Nations, Responsibility to Protect doctrine, while the duty to prevent and halt genocide and mass atrocities lies first and foremost with the state, yet “the international community has a role that cannot be blocked by the invocation of sovereignty.” Specifically, that doctrine says “sovereignty no longer exclusively protects states from foreign interference.” “Earlier this (last) week on Thursday, the United Nations Security Council in New York was briefed about the worsening situation in the northeastern parts of Nigeria. The conclusion of the report put before the council was that “Counter-Insurgency measures have failed to provide adequate protection of civilians in Northeastern Nigeria.” “At this point, the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, CANAN, may be left with no other options than to ally with other frontline groups in the international community regarding the situation and formally ask the UN to invoke the Responsibility to Protect doctrine as enshrined in article 1 of the Genocide Convention regarding the areas in North-Eastern Nigeria that is being ravaged by terrorists.” In Potiskum, Yobe State residents said two suicide bombers, arrested by police in a vehicle, blew themselves up yesterday in the town’s main police station . A death toll was not immediately available. Yobe is one of three Northeastern states frequently attacked by Boko Haram. On Friday evening, the army repelled an attack by insurgents in Yobe State capital, Damaturu.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 09:24:08 +0000
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