*Mirrage Suicide Bombing
Contrary to widespread belief that most of
the bombings by the Boko Haram sect are
carried out by suicide bombers, it has been
revealed that the sect currently at the
receiving end of military actionin Borno
Yobe and Adamawa states does not
employ such tactic.
A source close to the leadership ofthe
murderous sect, which has acquired
notoriety for its mindlesskillings of
innocent Nigerians in the northern part of
the country, employs deceptive tactics in
bombing of targets with its members sent
on such assignments used as Guinea pigs.
“Nigerians have been fooled for a long
time into thinking that the sect carries out
spectacular suicide bombings.
That thinking is very far from the reality on
ground and has been encouraged by
reports in the media and as well by the
circumstances surrounding some of the
bombings carried out by the group,” our
source said. “The truth, however, is, even
some of the bombers are sent to their
death without them knowing so. What
actually happens is that on such missions
there is what you may call division of
labour along the line.
From the time a target is selected up till
the execution of the assignment, different
individuals who are unknown to each other
play the different roles assigned tothem.
For instance, on an assignment, one person
acquires the vehicle, another person wires
it with explosives and then another
individual drives the vehicle to the place
targeted for destruction,” the source
added. Hesaid the final link in the chain is
the individual who finally detonates the
bomb.
“You see, the whole thing is carefully
planned and the drivers of the vehicles
who are paid between N20,000 and
N30,000 to drive the vehicle to the target
for destruction, do not know they are
driving to their deaths. Once they get to
the assigned destination, they place a call
indicating that they have arrived.
Thereafter, the final link in the chain is
activated. Upon receiving the call, the man
with the detonator carries out his mission
and then the driver and the vehicle go up
in explosion,” hesaid.
The bomb blast at a bus terminal in Kano
this year lends credence to this.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that shortly before
the blast, which claimed dozens of lives, a
white Volkswagen Golf car, was seen
parked in between two luxury buses filled
with passengers and bound for the
southern part of the country. Witnesses
said one of the occupants of the vehicles
was talking on phone when the bomb went
off blasting the vehicle and the luxury
buses around it to pieces. Even the
bombing of the Police Headquarters in
Abuja in 2011 followed a similar pattern.
In the case of the bombing of the United
Nations (UN) office in Abuja, the extensive
damage wrought on the facilities arose
because the sect had somehow managed
to breach security and had planted bombs
within the building. Our source said the
mythof Boko Haram engaging in suicide
bombings has helped the sect maintain a
larger than life image and to consolidate its
power in the areas it had controlled until
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a
state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa States.