Suicide Bomber Begged For Alms Before Detonating Explosive – Borno Commissioner

In a devastating turn of events, Gwoza Local Government Area in Borno State witnessed a series of suicide bombings on Saturday that resulted in the deaths of 32 individuals and left many others seriously injured.

The Commissioner of Local Government and Emirates Affairs, Sugum Mai Mele, revealed harrowing details of the attacks during a recent interview on Channels TV.

According to Commissioner Mele, the attackers, four suicide bombers, ingeniously disguised themselves as farmers to bypass military security gates and infiltrate the town.

Shockingly, one of the bombers reportedly begged for alms at one of the sites before detonating her explosives, catching the unsuspecting victims off guard.

The bombings strategically targeted locations where people were gathered for social events, specifically a wedding and a funeral, magnifying the tragedy for families and friends already assembled to share in communal rites. The attacks not only disrupted these gatherings but also inflicted widespread sorrow across the community.

Mele said, “The farmers usually go to their farms in the morning. They pass through the military gates while going and coming back from their farms. The suicide bombers smuggled in through the women that came back from the farms

“There is some laxity on the part of the screening exercise. Before now, when the farmers were going out, they issued tax and would be registered.

“In the evening, when they come back, it will be marked in the register that they have come in.

“Anybody who didn’t come in after the closing hours should be arrested or not allowed to go in.

“What happened in Gwoza was that these women entered the town in the guise of being farmers. I learnt that one of them was even carrying a baby.

“She went to the venue of that incident. She was begging and people have even started giving her some incentives — N20, N50, and N100.

“She had been collecting alms in the name of a beggar. So suddenly, she now detonated the bomb. This is what is happening.”

The Borno commissioner said there is a need for “some seriousness” in the screening of residents at military checkpoints.