Nigerian vigilantes gun down three female suicide bombers

Vigilante fighters on Wednesday killed three female would-be suicide bombers before they could attack a market in Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa state.

Yusuf Muhammed, chairman of Madagali local government area, told Premium Times the community’s local vigilantes first spotted the three women on their way to blow up the Gulak market, which holds its market day on Wednesdays. The vigilantes, who work with the army, asked the women to stop but began to shoot when they started to run. The fighters shot one of the bombers, which set off her explosive and killed the second.

“The third girl attempted to run, but could not succeed as she was also shot dead,” Muhammed said.

The officials said Islamic extremist group Boko Haram was responsible for the attempted attack. Earlier on Tuesday, soldiers in the Dar village in the same local government said they successfully repelled another attack by Boko Haram insurgents.

Badare Akintoye, the army spokesman, confirmed the Wednesday attack and said the army had responded.

“Our soldiers are on alert, and commercial activities are going on there,” he said.

Boko Haram’s insurgency, which began in the northeastern town of Maiduguri, has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million others. The Islamic extremist group has used kidnapped girls and women to stage suicide attacks across the region. In some cases, the suicide bombers have been as young as 7 years old. Last month, two female suicide bombers killed more than 50 people and wounded 177 others at Madagali market, 12 miles from yesterday’s shooting.

Nigeria’s army said it cleared out the insurgents from their last stronghold in Maiduguri state, but the sporadic attacks are likely to continue. The Nigerian army said several of the extremists fled the region following the security crackdown. Gen. Leo Irabor, the army’s operation commander, warned communities to remain alert for some insurgents who might still be on the run.

Muhammed urged the army to deploy more troops to the Madagali area.