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Teenage Girl Refuses to Carry out Boko Haram Suicide Bombing

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Feb 12, 2016

A teenage girl who was kidnapped by Boko Haram militants and forced to carry out a suicide mission has escaped her captors, aborted the mission, and is sharing what she knows of the militants’ plans.

The Guardian reports that the teenage girl was strapped with a suicide vest and instructed to detonate it in the midst of the Dikwa refugee camp in northeast Nigeria.

The girl, though fearing her captors, also feared killing the refugees, especially since she knew her father was among them.

Though fearful, she decided to abort the mission. She threw off her suicide vest as soon as she was out of sight of her captors. She also attempted to persuade two of her fellow captives to do the same, but the other two girls went through with their mission, killing 58 people, as well as themselves.

The girl was later found by local security forces.

Modu Awami, a self-defence fighter who questioned the girl about her mission, said: “She said she was scared because she knew she would kill people. But she was also frightened of going against the instructions of the men who brought her to the camp.”

The girl has revealed what she knows of Boko Haram’s other plans of attack and security at the refugee camp has been increased.

Boko Haram has brought terror to Nigeria and beyond its borders for six years now, killing 20,00 people and making 2.5 million homeless.

Publication date: February 12, 2016