Boko Haram released an image in 2014 of some of the abducted schoolgirls AP |
A senior Nigerian
official has disclosed that a would-be suicide bomber arrested in Cameroon
is not one of the missing Chibok schoolgirls.
BBC
News report continues:
The
girl had told investigators she was one of 270 abducted in Nigeria in 2014 by
Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
She
had explosives strapped to her body, had been drugged and was badly injured
when she was arrested last week, Cameroonian officials say.
Boko
Haram is increasingly using girls to carry out suicide bombings.
President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a new investigation into the kidnappings in
January, but admitted he had no information on the girls' whereabouts.
The
abductions of the schoolgirls from Chibok town in north-eastern Nigeria sparked
international outrage and the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.
While
about 50 of the girls managed to escape, 219 of the girls remain missing.
Boko
Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has said some of the girls have been converted to
Islam and forced to marry Boko Haram fighters.
There
have been reports that some of them may have been forced to fight for the
militant group, which is affiliated to Islamic State.
Although
Boko Haram has been driven out from most of the areas it controlled in
north-eastern Nigeria, it has continued to carry out suicide bombings and raids
into neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Boko Haram at a glance:
o
Founded
in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram
means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
o
Launched
military operations in 2009
o
Thousands
killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, hundreds abducted, including at least
200 schoolgirls
o
Joined
so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS's "West African
province"
o
Seized
large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate
o Regional force has retaken
most territory last year
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