Pregnant Suicide Bomber Killed, 211 Rescue In Borno

The bombers, who were about 18 years old, were killed around a security post in Ummarari Village on Saturday, after they refused to stop for a search.

Two suicide bombers, including a pregnant woman, have been shot dead by troops of the Nigerian Army after they were intercepted on Maiduguri-Damboa Road, Borno State.

This was just as troops also rescued 211 civilians held captive by the Boko Haram terrorists at Murye and Mala Maja villages in Borno State.

The National Emergency Management Agency, North-East spokesman, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said the corpses of the bombers had been evacuated by rescue workers.

He said, “Emergency workers from NEMA, in collaboration with other stakeholders, moved to the scene and evacuated the bodies, when we got an alert about the bombers.”

It was gathered that the two bombers at about 9pm attempted to enter Maiduguri through Ummarari, before they were sighted by the civilian joint task force and shot dead by troops.

The Improvised Explosive Device vests strapped on their bodies were reportedly removed by a police Explosive Ordinance Department team mobilised in the scene.

A civilian JTF member was, however, said to have been injured during the encounter and rushed to the hospital.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman, confirmed the rescue of the 211 hostages.

He said, “Following reported sighting of Boko Haram terrorists scavenging in some villages in Borno State, troops of the 22 Brigade Garrison, Operation Lafiya Dole, in conjunction with the civilian JTF, on Saturday embarked on a fighting patrol to Cingal, Murye and Mala Maja villages and cleared the terrorists.

“The troops killed a Boko Haram terrorist and rescued 211 captives. The rescued persons are currently being screened.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations School Project has commenced training of all aviation security personnel in Nigeria, to combat the spate of terrorism threats in the country and globally.

Being trained are 34 aviation security personnel from both the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria.

While the NCAA has four officials, FAAN, which provides security surveillance at all the airports, has 30 participants in the programme.

The training is currently holding at both FAAN Training School in Lagos and at the NCAA Training Hall in Abuja.

The NCAA, in a statement on Sunday, said 25 countries were considered and Nigeria was chosen for the pilot programme, in appreciation of the country’s “clear and well-documented roadmap on developing the aviation sector, with particular emphasis on safety and security.”

The NCAA’s General Manager, Public Relations, Sam Adurogboye, said in the statement, “The objective is to effectively mitigate the threat posed to civil aviation by terrorist organisations.

“It will also provide a key element for a robust national aviation security policy to meet global standards in infrastructure, safety and security.

“In addition, this initiative will enhance the capacity within the UN system to help interested member states to implement the multiple dimension of countering terrorism. 

“The 120-day training, tagged ‘Train the Trainer’, commenced on Monday, 6th March, 2017, simultaneously in Lagos and Abuja.”

According to the NCAA, the programme is being anchored by Redline Assured Security Company of the United Kingdom on behalf of the UN while the Director-General of the NCAA, Captain Muhtar Usman, is coordinating on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.