The phenomenon of suicide bombings

Until December 25, 2009 when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab failed to blow himself up in a US-bound plane, no one ever thought that any Nigerian, male or female, would have the liver to hug explosives with the sole aim of killing him/herself along with others. The general belief was that Nigerians loved their lives. And that suicide bombing as a trade, practised freely in such places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East, was un-African… totally alien to Nigeria especially.
On that fateful Christmas Day, Umar Farouk had boarded a plane at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, and headed for Amsterdam, Holland, en route to the United States. He beat the security at the Lagos airport hands down. At Amsterdam, he also dodged the Dutch security system and checked into the Delta West Airline flight 253 bound for Detroit with over 300 passengers on board. How Umar was able to escape the security checks both in Lagos and Amsterdam remains a mystery till date.
In the flight, one of the passengers, Jasper Schuringer, video director/producer from Amsterdam, heard a sound that reminded him of a firecracker. He must at first have wondered which kid aboard the aircraft would choose to unleash Christmas knockouts in the toilet. Then came an SMS (save my soul) followed by a whimper of fire! fire! That was the moment Farouk’s liver failed him. Jasper jumped down on him as he was fiddling with a burning object inside his (hot) pants. Jasper took a huge risk by pulling the dangerous contraption out of the boxer and battled to extinguish it. Jasper had his fingers burnt just as Farouk sustained first and second degree burns in his subjacent region. On landing in Detroit, he was promptly arrested and arraigned for trial where he told his interrogators that he was just one of the willing tools the Al Qaeda had demonised in Yemen and elsewhere to unleash terror on the US and its interests. Period!
After Farouk’s failure to kill himself and the other passengers aboard the aircraft, we all came to the (erroneous) denouement that Nigerians were not cut out for the dangerous adventure of suicide bombing. How wrong we were! Today, Nigerians carry out the task with gusto. On June 16, 2011, Nigeria recorded its first suicide bombing in Abuja and the Louis Edet Building housing the nation’s Police Headquarters, of all places, was the target. The Boko Haram militants, who claimed responsibility for the dastardly act through the instrumentality of Mohammed Manga, chose the fortress to make a loud statement… perhaps louder than the explosion that rocked the premises. Two months later, the terrorists struck at the United Nations Building also in Abuja to send a strong warning to the entire world. Scores of UN workers and visitors were sent to their early graves in the tragic incidents.
After the two major episodes in Abuja, several suicide bombings have been successfully carried out in different parts of the country, especially in the North. In most cases, the executioners were young boys and lately… girls. And anywhere is their target: motor parks, market places, schools, worship centres and military/police formations. Anyone is also their target… the powerful like the traditional rulers and the commoners. No one is spared. It is difficult to keep tabs on statistics of suicide bombings in Nigeria since 2011 but here are a few instances: In July 2012, a lone suicide bomber blew himself up while targeting some dignitaries dispersing from the Friday prayers near the palace of Shehu of Borno, Umar Garbai el-Kanemi. The Shehu was the main target but five worshippers were killed.
On August 10, 2012, the Emir of Fika, Yobe state, Alhaji Muhammed Abali Ibn Mohammed Idrisa, escaped death when a suicide bomber targeted him for assassination. The emir, who is also the chairman, Yobe state Council of Chiefs, had just finished his Friday prayers at the Potiskum Central Mosque when a teenage boy with explosives strapped to his body attempted to get close to him. He was stopped by the emir’s police orderly. Seeing that his mission to kill the emir had failed, the suspected assassin brought out a gun and made to shoot when the explosives detonated.
Lately, many under-aged boys and girls have been brainwashed by the sect into taking their own lives and those of innocent Nigerians. The escalation of the incidents is frightening…from Kontagora to Gombe, from Azare to Maiduguri, from Potiskum to Kaduna, from Suleja to Minna, from Buni Yadi to Bama, from Jos to Gujba. The list is endless. The latest was the twin bombing at the mosque attached to the Palace of Emir of Kano last Friday. Over 120 worshippers were blown to smithereens, while 270 others were injured in what has been described as one of the deadliest operations by the criminals in recent times. Some 48 hours later, two female suicide bombers stormed the Maiduguri Monday Market and blew themselves and close to 50 people up, injuring scores of others.
The question now is when will this madness end? The insurgents are not contented with taking territories in the North-east in spite of the state of emergency imposed on the axis since May last year; they launch sporadic bomb attacks on any locations that suit their fancy, placing the citizens under a mental siege. Not too long ago, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) asked President Goodluck Jonathan to secure the release of the Chibok girls by last October or forget 2015. The National Security Council which met in Abuja also gave December 2014 as deadline to end the insurgency. But the situation is exacerbating with no light at the end of the tunnel. When you consider the fast approaching 2015 polls that will engage our overstretched security personnel, there is certainly a cause for concern.