Cameroon yet to release arrested suicide bombers

Barely three weeks after their arrest, the self-confessed Chibok suicide bomber, Aissatou Musa, and her partner, Mamma Sali, are yet to be released to the Federal Government.

The two girls were said to be undergoing what a security source described as “bonafide” investigation in Yaounde.

Some Nigerian security agents are in the Camerounian capital, Yaounde, to assist their counterparts on the profiling of the girls.

According to a top security source, the Camerounian government said it wanted a comprehensive investigation which may provide some information on the operation of Boko Haram in the Francophone country.

The source said: “The two girls have not been handed over to the Federal Government because of the ongoing strategic bonafide investigation.

“They said they cannot just dismiss the girls and return them to Nigeria because they were arrested by local self-defence forces in Limani , which is in the far North of Cameroon being ravaged by Boko Haram.

“They told our team that it is in the interest of the two countries to gather enough intelligence from the suspects.

“Some of our security agents are still in Yaounde to compare notes and collaborate on the next step. We have asked them to hand over the girls to us for further investigation.

The Cameroonian authorities have concluded a preliminary investigation which indicated that the girls were not Chibok girls and they had no connection with the abducted 219 girls.

It was learnt that the two girls have never had the opportunity of Western Education.

A report said in part: “Available information as regards the acclaimed Chibok girl indicated as follows: Aissatou Musa, who claimed to be one of the Chibok girls, is the daughter of Musa Bladi and Fanta(mother) of Mandara Ethnic Group.

“The second girl is Mamma Sali. She is the daughter of Sali Chetima and Hajiya Bintou of Kanuri tribe.

“Both hailed from Bama and speak in Mandara, Hausa and Kanuri. They have never been to Western school except Koranic schools. They have no relationship with the 219 Chibok girls.”

The #BringBackOurGirls group has however, in a statement, offered suggestions on how to manage such an incident in a “quicker, more responsive and professional handling” in the future.

The statement said: “Following the incident of Friday March, 26, 2016, wherein two females carrying explosives were arrested in the northern Cameroonian town of Limani—one of which professed to be one of our Chibok girls—we feel obligated, as a movement in the forefront of the advocacy for the rescue of our 219 Chibok girls (as well as other abductees of Boko Haram, and related issues), to offer our well-considered positions on the matter.

“We are convinced that our positions and suggestions will be useful for our especially the Nigerian government in the on-going operations to rescue all Nigerian abductees and our 219 Chibok girls who were taken under distressing conditions from their school on the night of April 14, 2014.