Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu
The Federal Government has made available the photographs of the suspected female suicide bomber who was intercepted in northern Cameroon on Friday before she could blow herself.
The photographs were made available in order to verify her claim that she is one of the 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram from Chibok, Borno State in April 2014.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
Shehu, who had earlier announced that the government would be sending a delegation to Cameroon to verify the suspect’s claim, said Cameroonian health and security officials on Monday started the treatment of the arrested suicide bomber.
He explained that the health condition of the girl who was found to be heavily drugged and bore several injuries on her body had delayed her movement to the far north regional capital of Cameroon, Maroua, as earlier planned.
He said since the pictures of the girl suggested that she is a minor, the government had decided not to publish them but make them available for interested persons from Chibok.
He said, “Pictures of the arrested suspected bomber obtained by Nigerian officials indicated that the girl was likely a minor, between ages nine to 12 years.
“Her accomplice was about 30 years or more, and both spoke only in Kanuri language.
“Considering the well-known guidelines regarding the publication of photography of minors, we have decided to forward the pictures of the suspected bomber to the Murtala Mohammed Foundation for verification by interested Chibok community stakeholders.
“The Ministry of Women Affairs, the Nigerian High Commission in Cameroon and other agencies of government will continue to work together with other stakeholders to verify all the issues.”
All Credits: PUNCH
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