A female suicide bomber who was among those who attacked the Kantin Kwari International Textile market on December 10 told newsmen in Kano yesterday that her father engaged her and other girls for the Boko Haram to carry out suicide bombings.
Thirteen-year-old Zahara’u Babangida, who was paraded by the police and State Security Service (SSS) in Kano, also said her father took her with her mother and others from Kano to a bush and handed them over to Boko Haram members for suicide attacks.
Zahara’u said those handed over to the Boko Haram by her father were many, but she did know where he got the other girls from.
She said: “At the bush, they asked me if I wanted to enter paradise, I answered in the affirmative. They started narrating the conditions of entering paradise with emphasis on martyrdom. They said they wanted me to become a suicide bomber and that would make me to enter paradise. I told them that I didn’t want to be a suicide bomber. They threatened to kill me along with those they regarded as infidels.
“After sometime, I accepted the suicide bombing mission. I did that largely because I wanted to move out of that jungle. So when they set the bombs on three of us, they took us to the Kantin Kwari market and asked us to detonate the explosives in the midst of a crowd in the market. Those preaching to us in the bush included whites and black people.”
She added: “When the two other girls detonated their bombs, I became scared because of the injuries I sustained. Therefore, I ran out of the market. I stopped Adaidaita Sahu (tricycle operator) and asked him to take me to Dawanau (a famous grain market in Kano).”
It was on their way to Dawanau that Zahara’u disclosed to the rider that she was actually carrying a bomb meant for a suicide attack at the Kantin Kwari market.
The tricycle rider promptly moved Zahara’u to a hospital where the police were invited and they took her for investigation after diffusing the bomb.
The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Tashheed Adenrele Shinaba, said they decided to parade the girl in order to dispel rumours on the latest bomb blasts in Kano where some residents insinuated that the attacks were planned and executed by non-indigenes.
“We need to tell members of the public that the insinuation that it is a particular tribe in the country that is responsible for the bombing is not true,” he said, adding: “People are saying that it is non indigenes of Kano, that it is the Igbos that are behind this particular incidence.
“I want the general public to know that this is not an entrepreneur war. It is terrorism like we had in the past, so it has nothing to do with any government, tribe or religion. Only people who benefited from violence are the masterminds of this wicked and ugly rumour. Initially, when this issue of insurgency started, we were made to believe that Muslims were behind the bombings in the churches. Thereafter, we started having bombs in mosques, malls, petrol stations and other places including schools. So, who do we say is behind this?”
The commissioner warned that the police would not fold its arms to allow any group attack innocent citizens, saying every Nigerian has the right to live in any part of the country.
He said Zahara’u came from Bauchi and after arresting her, they went further to arrest one of those who took her to Kano and the vehicle she used. They are all under custody, he added.
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Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/news/42859-dad-gave-me-to-boko-haram-female-teen-bomber-says
