Police nab 10-year-old girl strapped with explosives
Attackers are adherents of warped ideology – Jonathan
By Bashir Mohammed, Kano, Chizoba Ogbeche and Abdullahi M. Gulloma, Abuja
At least three persons were killed yesterday when a 14-year-old female suicide bomber blew herself up at the gates of the Kano State Polytechnic in Kano.
Seven other people sustained various degrees of injury from the blast that occurred along BUK Road.
An eyewitness told our correspondent at the scene of the blast that he saw at least 12 corpses scattered all over the place, with scores wounded.
Confirming the death toll while speaking to newsmen at scene of the blast, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adenrele Shinaba, said most of the victims were graduates of the polytechnic who had come to the school to check their names in order to verify their respective areas of assignment for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Shinaba said the suicide bomber almost took everyone off guard by disguising herself as one of the graduates, adding that just a few minutes after her appearance the bomb went off.
He said the new trend in suicide bombing was a worrisome development to security agencies in the state, stressing that the saga called for extra-vigilance and concerted efforts on the part of all and sundry in order to check the menace.
He said: “We are facing the most difficult time in containing insurgency of this magnitude. We need extra-intelligence and constant surveillance to monitor any suspicious movement. We are hell-bent on achieving our goals no matter the odds.”
The commissioner further revealed that those that sustained injury in the blast had been taken to one of the hospitals in Kano for treatment and promised to keep the press posted on any latest development.
Meanwhile, security forces on Tuesday arrested a 10-year-old girl, Hadiza, who was strapped with explosives on Zaria Road in Kaduna.
National Coordinator of the National Information Centre (NIC), Mr. Mike Omeri, disclosed this yesterday while briefing journalists at the centre.
He said Hadiza was arrested alongside two others, a male, Iliya Dahiru, and a female, Zainab Musa, 18, in the Tudun Wada area of Funtua metropolis at about 10 p.m. while driving in a Honda CRV car.
Omeri said: “When the suspects were directed to disembark for security checks, ten-year-old Hadiza was discovered to have been strapped with an explosive belt and immediately, Iliya and Zainab made attempt to escape with the car, but were later blocked by other concerned Nigerians and subsequently arrested.
“The police successfully unstrapped the explosives.”
Omeri appealed to parents “to consciously observe and watch their children’s activities to prevent them from participating in unwholesome activities, particularly acts of terrorism.”
He assured that “government is putting all efforts and resources into successfully and definitely countering insurgency by the Boko Haram sect.”
“Government is closely liaising with domestic and international intelligence agencies within the newly established Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit (RIFU) to track and capture the terrorists and their sponsors,” he added.
In a related development, President Goodluck Jonathan has deplored the continuing terrorist assault on Kano and the bombing of the Aminu Kano College of Islamic and Legal Studies yesterday.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, the president also deplored yesterday’s attacks on two mosques in Potiskum, Yobe state.
Abati said the president condemned the repeated targeting of worshippers and innocent students who are the nation’s future by depraved terrorists.
“He believes that the callous attacks on soft targets fully affirm that the terrorists are nothing but bloodthirsty adherents of a warped and retrogressive ideology.
“No amount of intimidation and violence would stampede the government into abandoning its goal of giving education a new lease of life and opening up access to all young Nigerians who wish to improve themselves.
“President Jonathan has therefore directed the Armed Forces, Police and other national security agencies to further enhance security around educational facilities in states prone to terrorist attacks.”
