Residents of Madagali, a town in Adamawa state, north east Nigeria, are still expressing shock over a recent attack by a female suicide bomber who strapped to her back in an attempt to use the infant as a decoy before blowing herself up.
The UN children’s agency, the UNICEF, says, the attack, believed to have been carried out by the Boko Haram group, is the first incident involving a baby reported in north east Nigeria.
Reacting to the issue, a UNICEF spokeswoman in the region, Dr. Dounce Porter, said “we are extremely worried about the use of a baby in this callous way”.
Eyewitness account said the woman with a baby and two girls all struck the market at the same time in a coordinated attack which left six killed and 17 others wounded.
The suicide bombing bore the hallmark of Jihadist operations which are very common in northern Nigeria.
So far, no fewer than 19 children mainly young girls have been used in several other suicide attacks.
