Captured suicide bomber not one of the Chibok schoolgirls

Parents from Nigeria’s Chibok community and local authorities have confirmed a female suicide bomber held by Cameroon authorities is not one of the 276 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in 2014.

The Murtala Muhammed Foundation, a nonprofit organization involved in the search for the kidnapped girls, received pictures from Cameroon of the girl and another woman who was also arrested. Three parents from the Chibok Parents Association viewed the pictures on Wednesday and said she wasn’t among the kidnapped.

“(They) have confirmed that the girl and the woman do not fit the description of any of the missing daughters from Chibok,” said Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, the foundation’s chief executive.

On March 26, Cameroon authorities reported they found the girl, now identified as 12-year-old Maryam Alhaji Wakeel, with explosives in Limani, Cameroon. She said she was from Chibok. They identified the woman with her as 35-year-old Aishatu Usman. But the Nigerian government reported Wakeel was abducted from Bama in Borno state when Boko Haram ravaged the town about a year ago.

Cameroonian authorities questioned the women to find out about Boko Haram’s operations. Muhammed-Oyebode said Wednesday that Cameroon authorities have transferred the women to the Nigerian military.

The Murtala Muhammed Foundation said it would continue to pursue the case and provide Wakeel with any support she needs even though she is not from Chibok.

“These girls and women are merely victims, and must be treated as such by the society,” Muhammed-Oyebode said. “They have already undergone grave violence at the hands of their Boko Haram captors. We must ensure that they are not made to undergo additional violence at the hands of their compatriots.”

The arrest was the first update in months on the 2014 kidnapping that Human Rights Watch called the “largest documented school abduction.”

In recent months, the Nigerian army and neighboring troops have honed in on Boko Haram and released at least 3,000 captives. But none of the Chibok girls have been found. Authorities fear Boko Haram might be using the girls as suicide bombers in its ongoing guerilla attacks.