A female suicide bomber on Sunday killed herself and a
soldier close to the Quarter-guard of the 301 Battalion of Nigerian Army in
Gombe, Gombe State.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the female bomber,
was riding on a motorcycle and on approaching the gate of the military
facility, hugged a soldier.
But the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Mr. Abdullahi Jalo, said “A female suicide bomber was
approaching the army quarter guard around the railway area; she was heading
towards the military post and they kept telling her to stop.
“She however kept advancing and one of the soldiers
approached her, perhaps to forcefully stop her. It was at this point that she
blew up herself and the soldier at about 10.50am.”
The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris
Olukolade and the Special Adviser (Media) to the Gombe State Governor, Mr.
Ayuba Alukwe, also confirmed the incident.
Olukolade told NAN
in a telephone interview from Abuja that normal activities were ongoing
at the barracks as of Sunday evening.
‘‘Intelligence deduced from credible information earlier
received on this plot confirms the vigilance of some members of the public,’’
he said.
Olukolade later issued a statement which read, “Troops
mounting a security check point at a barrack entrance in Gombe this morning
intercepted a lady suicide bomber while she was attempting to gain entry into
the barracks.
“The lady suicide bomber who had primed herself with
improvised explosive devices concealed under her Hijjab was intercepted when
troops acting on intelligence report indicating that a terrorist group was
plotting to attack barracks around Gombe using female suicide bombers, halted
her and as she was being searched the bomb detonated killing the lady.
“Unfortunately, one of the troops conducting the search also
died while another was wounded in the explosion.”
When contacted, Alukwe
said information on the incident was still sketchy because the military
had yet to issue a statement on it.
He said “We’ve been trying to reach out to the military to
get a clear picture of what really
happened but they’ve not given us any
information yet.
“There was an incident. We saw people running helter skelter
and the military has barricaded the area.
“That is all I know so far. They made me understand that
they need to get clearance from the Defence Headquarters before they can
speak.”
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