The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed Tuesday, December 29, 2015 explained the modus operandi of terror group, Boko Haram.
Speaking when he visited Punch Newspapers’ corporate headquarters in Magboro, Ogun State, Mohammed said most of the female teenage suicide bombers that carry out the terror attacks are not usually aware that they are carrying explosive devices.
He said: “Suicide bombers usually walk in threes. There is the man who leads. The leader will ensure that the small girl who is strapped with the bomb knows the road. The small girl never knows what she is carrying.
“She is simply told to go and deliver a parcel at a market. That leader would have taken her to the market days before to show her the direction of the market. On the day she is to deliver the package, the man will lead and by then she is strapped.
“Then there is another person that tails her from behind who will make sure that she doesn’t change her mind or turns in another direction. These bombs are detonated remotely. This is how cowardly these people are. These girls are not indoctrinated. Most of them don’t know what they are carrying. Some of them do it for as little as N5, 000 which is given to their parents.”
He went on to reiterate that the Federal Government had largely won the war against insurgency urging the mediato be patriotic in reporting insurgency by publicising the successes of the military and the failures of the terrorists.
He said: “Publicity is the oxygen that any insurgent or group uses to survive. We are not saying that you should stop reporting. We are saying that in a time of war, no newspaper can afford to be neutral. It is because of peace we are all sitting here.
“During the Northern Island/British war, no newspaper used Jerry Adam’s picture for a while because they saw that Adams was being glamourised and became a hero to many people.
“These reports give the impression that the government is losing the war. No country can stop this kind of soft attacks. France was not under any insurgency when terrorists surprised the entire country. They went to the stadium and cinemas to kill people.”
