IT was a huge relief for residents of Borno State, an epicenter of the insurgency, to have stayed for more than three years without the booming sounds of detonated bombs by suicide bombers. Up till 2020, suicide bombings featured intermittently on the streets of major cities in the state, especially areas considered strongholds of ravaging terrorists, Boko Haram.
But after years of seeming pause in the suicide bombing aspect of the insurgency operations, Nigerians were, once again, confronted with the news of a deadly multiple bomb attack that left no fewer than 30 persons dead and several others sustaining varying degrees of injuries.
The latest attack, which rekindled fear among residents, took place recently with four coordinated detonations of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that killed marriage guests, mourners, and traders at Gwoza town, once the seat of the Islamic Caliphate declared by Boko Haram insurgents in 2014 in Borno State.
As residents were coming to terms with the shocking and surprise of an initial attack at a marriage ceremony, another bomber detonated the deadly element among mourners at a funeral arena in the same city. In all, four incidents were recorded in the same period with fears over the possible return of suicide bombers in the area.
In panic, the Director-General of Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr. Barkindo Saidu, captured the incidents thus: “in my presence, at about exactly 3 pm, the first bomb in Gwoza was detonated by a female suicide bomber in the marriage ceremony. It affected more than 30 persons with various levels of injuries and instant death.
“Some minutes later, another blast occurred around General Hospital. Again, at the funeral services (janaiza), another lady rushed into the congregation and detonated another bomb with a lot of casualties. When we were in the hospital coordinating the rescue mission, another one exploded from a female teenager”.
The description above captured the confusion that trailed the various incidents that snuffed out several lives in Gwoza on the same day. Most disturbing is the fact that the bombers were women, ostensibly schooled in the act of guerrilla warfare.
Like in the past, female and child suicide bombers made living in the Northeast a nightmare, causing havoc to lives and property as they attacked churches, mosques, schools, markets, etc. Since about 2014 when Boko Haram unleashed a devastating onslaught on innocent citizens, thousands of Nigerians have lost their lives and the latest development could be a warning of a renewed programme to cause more deaths and destruction.
What the people are suffering presently was initiated by a Muslim fundamentalist, Muhammed Yusuf, who founded the Boko Haram sect in 2002. In 2009, after he was earlier reportedly killed by security agents, the group carried out a series of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and attacks on military formations.
It took an onslaught by the military from Nigeria and a few neighbouring countries to minimize suicide bombing, kidnapping, and other Boko Haram activities in the state these few years. No doubt, the residents enjoyed some reprieve since 2020, except for pockets of cases that occurred once in a while.
While the people still savour the relative peace that had endured before the recent development, the authorities must undertake a review of the recent incidents and take proactive measures to checkmate the return of deadly suicide bombers.
To achieve this, the federal government must strengthen security formations around Maduguri and its environs by deploying intelligence for improved security and surveillance. In this era, security results are achieved more through intelligence gathering using modern equipment.
Also, the federal government should retrain soldiers and provide them with the necessary equipment to man their locations and ward off possible invasions by insurgents. Taking cognizance that the non-kinetic approach is yielding more positive outcomes in counter-insurgency, the federal government should use modern communication gadgets such as CCTV to monitor the terrorists.
The return of suicide bombers is a thing of concern and the federal government must rise to nip further cases in the bud.
