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Army confirms death of Boko Haram bomb-maker

By Karls Tsokar
24 May 2016   |   3:24 am
The Nigerian Army yesterday said the chief bomb-maker and a high-ranking terrorist of the Boko Haram had been killed by one of the bodyguards of the sect leader, Abubakar Shekau.
PHOTO:AFP

PHOTO:AFP

• Terrorists tried to turn me into a bomber, says woman

The Nigerian Army yesterday said the chief bomb-maker and a high-ranking terrorist of the Boko Haram had been killed by one of the bodyguards of the sect leader, Abubakar Shekau.

A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said the chief bomb-maker, known for his expertise at making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) for the Boko Haram sect, had been shot and killed by his colleague when he attempted to run away from the camp.

The statement described the incidence as a “major breakthrough in the clearance and rescue operation by the Nigerian military.”

Also in the statement, Usman said one of the senior members who was already designed to take over from Shekau had become blind, consequent to shrapnel from an IED he was preparing.

The statement reads in part: “One Julelebeeb who was appointed to take over is now completely blind because his two eyes were shattered by shrapnel in the process of preparing an IED to consolidate his appointment.”

In another development, the Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency yesterday said a woman had explained how the militant Islamist group, Boko Haram, tried to turn her into a bomber.

The AFP quoted the woman as saying she was abducted by two men at a bus station in the northeastern city of Maiduguri last Friday as she was on her way to the hospital

According to her: “They offered me a lift, which I readily accepted because I wanted to be at the hospital on time. They drugged me by placing something on my nose and I lost consciousness.

“I just woke up to realise I had been stripped and strapped with a suicide vest and overheard one of my captors whispering to me that I was going to do God’s work.

“While the driver went to look for water, the other man went out to open bonnet to examine the engine, which gave me an opportunity to run out of the vehicle.”

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