A few days ago the sight of women carrying hand bags in Yobe state, located in Northern Nigeria and all over the country either meant they were holding personal items or making a fashion statement. They would either have been complimented or at the very least checked upon entrance into places of worship and notable public gatherings; but now they may just be suicide bombers.
Suicide bombers from the Islamic sect, Boko Haram have developed a new way of conveying improvised explosive devices. The Nigeria Police on Tuesday discovered female suicide bombers with a handbag carrying an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Yobe state. The police have therefore called on Nigerians to be more vigilant. “People in and around Yobe State as well as the entire country should watch out for excessive and gorgeous dressing bag carrying young girls/older women. This bag is one of such recent discovery in Yobe State by Police EoD Personnel,” the police noted.
On Sunday a female suicide bomber, about 10 years of age, detonated an explosive device at a crowded main entrance of a popular Sunday market. Toyin Gbadegeshin, a Police spokesman who addressed journalists in Yobe stated that this attack killed 15 people, including 10 females and five males, while injuring 47 others. Several female suicide bombers have perpetrated attacks in recent times concealing bombs under their veil. The terror group has not claimed responsibility for any of the recent bombings.
The insurgency has continued to step up its campaign of suicide bombing using girls, usually veiled, and now possibly carrying a fully loaded handbag to blow up targets in Nigeria’s northeast. At other times, the militants storm villages on motorcycles and pick-up vans shooting indiscriminately at villagers and burning down homes.
This development not only increases the level of fear and suspicion, but a lot of innocent people may be implicated while others will lose their lives due to negligence. If the insurgents have added accessories to their list, the group may be living up to its promise of launching attacks that will be “stronger than before”.
What happens next? Should Nigeria consider banning handbags as well as veils? But how effective would this be considering the fact that the burqa is tied to both religion and culture while purses have been a woman’s constant companion for hundreds of years.