Contrary to widespread belief that most of the bombings by the Boko Haram sect are carried out by suicide bombers, it has been revealed that the sect, whose members are being routed out of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States does not employ such a tactic.
A source close to the leadership of the sect, which has acquired notoriety for its mindless killings of innocent Nigerians, employs deceptive tactics in bombing targets with its members sent on such assignments used as guinea pigs.
About 4,000 people have been killed and thousands of others injured in the terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic militants in the North.
However, reprieve is underway for some of the victims as the Yobe State Government yesterday approved N187.4 million for their rehabilitation.
“Nigerians have been fooled for a long time into thinking that the sect carries out spectacular suicide bombings. That thinking is very far from the reality on ground and has been encouraged by reports in the media and as well by the circumstances surrounding some of the bombings carried out by the group,” the source said.
“The truth however is even some of the bombers are sent to their death without them knowing so. What actually happens is that on such missions there is what you may call division of labour along the line. From the time a target is selected up till the execution of the assignment, different individuals who are unknown to each other play the different roles assigned to them. For instance, on an assignment, one person acquires the vehicle, another person wires it with explosives and then another individual drives the vehicle to the place targeted for destruction,” the source added.
He said the final link in the chain is the individual who finally detonates the bomb.
“You see the whole thing is carefully planned and the drivers of the vehicles who are paid between N20, 000 and N30, 000 to drive the vehicles to the target for destruction, do not know they are driving to their death. Once they get to the assigned destination, they place a call indicating that they have arrived. Thereafter, the final link in the chain is activated. Upon receiving the call, the man with the detonator carries out his mission and then the driver and the vehicle go up in explosion,” he said.
The bomb blast at a bus terminal in Kano this year lends credence to the modus operandi of the Islamic militants as narrated by the source.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that shortly before the blast, which claimed dozens of lives, a white Volkswagen Golf car, was seen parked in between two luxury buses filled with passengers and bound for the southern part of the country.
Witnesses said one of the occupants of the vehicles was talking on the phone when the bomb went off blasting the vehicle and the luxury buses around it to pieces.
Even the bombing of the Police Headquarters in Abuja in 2011 followed a similar pattern.
In the case of the bombing of the United Nations (UN) office in Abuja, the extensive damage wrought on the facilities arose because the sect had somehow managed to breach security and had planted bombs within the building.
The source said the myth of Boko Haram engaging in suicide bombings has helped the sect maintain a larger than life image and to consolidate its power in the areas it had controlled until President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
Meanwhile, Yobe State Government has approved N187.4 million for victims of Boko Haram attacks in the state even as it disclosed that 99 persons were killed in the crisis in the state.
According to the Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Goni Fika, the government has decided to pay compensation to those whose houses were burnt and those innocently killed.
The commissioner who addressed the media after the executive council meeting, said the state hoped the money would assist the victims to live a normal life again.
He said the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had earlier carried out an assessment and established that 99 persons were confirmed to have been innocently killed while 135 others were attacked and houses burnt during the attack.
Asked of the fate of worship places burnt by the insurgents, the commissioner said the money approved would cater for all that was destroyed by the insurgents.
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