“New Counter-Terrorism Strategies to Tackle Female Suicide Bombing Trend in Nigeria” – Frank Mba
ABUJA (NAN) ― The Police Public Relations Officer ACP Frank Mba,
on Wednesday in Abuja said international terror organisations use
female suicide bombers in attacks because they are less suspicious.
Mba, who was answering questions at the National Information Centre, said the use of females in suicide attacks was not new.
“Established
international terror organisations use female suicide bombers, the
major reason is because women, generally raise fewer suspicion,
particularly when there are security layers.
“If
you have been following the trend of terrorism worldwide, you will
understand that the use of a female suicide bomber is not new.
“But, it is a new trend in our own part of the world’’, he said.
The force spokesman, however, said a new counter-terrorism strategy was being developed to address the new trend in the country.
“We are developing counter-terrorism strategies to deal with that.
“By our rules of engagement and by our culture too, male security operatives generally are not allowed to
search females.
“You
will see increase in female security personnel on roads and in other
places where stop and search exercises are being carried out.
“Nigerians
should be prepared to see more female police officers, bomb disposal
experts, DSS operatives and soldiers in combat operations’’, he said.
Mba
appealed to parents and Local Government authorities across the country
to support efforts to stamp out street hawking by young girls,
particularly among minors.
Earlier, the coordinator of the centre, Mike Omeri, said the insurgents had resorted to using young girls because something had gone wrong with their strategy.
“This trend of using young people clearly shows that there is something wrong with main recruitment arm of the insurgents.
“Citizens
are becoming more aware and so the tendency is to recruit those who do
not know what they are doing, young people as young as 10 years.
“Boko
Haram is so deadly and this underscores the seriousness of the campaign
that our country is engage in order to flush out the insurgents’’, he
said.
