•Troops rescue 211, clear terrorists from 2 villages

By Adetutu Folasade-Koyi

Two female suicide bombers were killed in Mulai, a distance of about nine kilometres to Maiduguri, capital of Borno State on Saturday.

It also emerged that one of the bombers was pregnant.

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Victor Isukku,  confirmed the incident in a statement, yesterday.

Isukku said the attackers, who were teenagers, were killed when they tried to sneak into Maiduguri through Mulai General Area.

“Yesterday, at about 20:45hrs, two female suicide bombers, about 18 years of age, attempted to enter Maiduguri, through Umarari, in Mulai General Area.

“They were sighted by the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) and, consequently, shot dead by security personnel on duty.

“No loss of life or injury was recorded. A police team was mobilised to the scene to render the unexploded improvised explosive device (IED) safe, while normalcy has been restored to the area. There is heavy security presence in Mulai at the moment. Soldiers, police and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are in the area.”

Suicide attacks have been the major challenge of security operatives involved in the battle against insurgency.

Although Boko Haram has not been able to stage organised attacks in recent times, the sect has been using guerrilla tactics.

The insurgents are known to send vulnerable young women on suicide missions.

Spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the North East,  Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said rescue workers have evacuated the bodies of the suicide bombers.

Earlier this month, the military paraded three suspected female suicide bombers in Maiduguri.

Amina Yusuf, one of the suspects, confessed she allowed security personnel to capture her.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has rescued 211 civilians held captive by Boko Haram terrorists at Cingal Murye and Maja villages in Northern Borno, on Saturday.

Director, Army/Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman,  said in a statement, yesterday, that troops of 22 Brigade Garrison, Operation Lafiya Dole, rescued the victims during an operation in the villages. He said one terrorist was disarmed while 11 bicycles were recovered from the fleeing terrorists.

“In addition, the patrol team escorted two heavy duty trucks and 18 pickup vans to recover Internally Displaced Persons’ food stuff from Mala Maja,’’ he added.

He also said one terrorist was disarmed while 11 bicycles were recovered from other fleeing terrorists.