How Female Suicide Bombers Carried Out Attacks in Borno That Killed 18

On Saturday, June 29, 2024, four female suicide bombers carried out coordinated attacks on a wedding, a funeral, and a hospital in Gwoza Local Government Area in Borno State, leaving 18 people dead.

According to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the female suicide bombers orchestrated the attacks, which also left more than 30 individuals injured with varying degrees of severity, ranging from abdominal ruptures to skull and limb fractures.

The Director-General of SEMA, Barkindo Saidu, provided a firsthand account of the incident.

“In my presence, at about 3 pm, the first bomb blast in Gwoza occurred, detonated by a female suicide bomber in the midst of the marriage ceremony celebration,” he stated in his situation report.

Minutes later, another blast occurred around the General Hospital, which “affected more than 30 persons with various levels of injuries and instant death.”

One survivor claimed that the first bomber was carrying a baby on her back when she attacked the wedding venue and detonated the improvised explosive device (IED). As the community gathered to mourn and bury those killed at the wedding, the third suicide bomber, also a woman, detonated another IED, adding to the chaos and casualties.

Tragically, the violence did not end there. As emergency responders were working to aid the wounded at the hospital, a fourth female bomber detonated another IED, resulting in further casualties.

“So far, 18 deaths comprise children, adult males, females, and pregnant women. Nineteen seriously injured were conveyed to Maiduguri in four ambulances,” Saidu said.

President Bola Tinubu, in a statement on Sunday, claimed that the attack was carried out of desperation, describing it as “a clear manifestation of the pressure mounted against terrorists and the success achieved in degrading their capacity to launch offensives.”

He added that the attack is an isolated episode.

“The purveyors of wanton violence shall have a certain encounter with justice, and these cowardly attacks are only but an isolated episode as my government will not allow the nation to slither into an era of fear, tears, sorrow, and blood,” he said.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, Boko Haram, which has terrorised the state and other northern states since 2009, has used women as suicide bombers in the past.