A suspected suicide bomber intercepted in Cameroon before she could blow herself up has claimed to be one of 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok in 2014.
According to military and local government officials, two girls carrying explosives were stopped by local self-defence forces in the village of Limani, in an area of northern Cameroon that has been the target of frequent suicide bombings in recent months, reports Reuters.
“One of them indeed declared that she is one of the Chibok hostages. She is around 15. We are now verifying, because on the Nigerian side they have the names and photos of these girls,” said local government administrator Raymond Roksdo.
Two military sources, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the press, also confirmed that the girl had claimed to have been one of the Chibok abductees.
“We need a few days to be able to confirm this information. We have to debrief all the men who were present and interrogate the two girls before we can say anything,” one of the military sources said.