The incident took place at the Muda Lawal, the biggest market in Bauchi, located in northeastern Nigeria. The two teenage girls entered the market where they were required to go through a search at the gate. The two girls aroused suspicion when they refused to be searched, the New York Post reported on Sunday.
Nigeria has experienced a series of suicide bombing lately that have been blamed on Boko Haram militants. Their usual method is to send girls, some as young as 10-years-old into busy markets and bus stations, wearing explosives that are presumed to be detonated remotely. The incidents have raised fears that the militant group will continue to use some of the hundreds of girls they have kidnapped for further atrocities.
People at the market overpowered one of the girls, according to witnesses, and found two bottles of some kind of liquid strapped to her waist. They clubbed her to death and then put a tire doused in fuel over her head, setting it on fire. By the time police arrived, the girl was dead. No arrests were made. The other young woman was taken into custody.
Police Deputy Superintendent Mohammad Haruna said it was doubtful the girl was wearing explosives because they didn’t detonate when she was attacked. He explained the crowd’s mob action against the victim as a “mob action carried out by an irate crowd.”
President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned Boko Haram militants for using “soft” targets for their bombings, telling the public it is their way of responding to the Nigerian military’s recent successes in reclaiming a number of towns lost to the terror group in the past year. A multinational force is being formed to fight Boko Haram, with a number of Nigeria’s neighbors joining.
Compared to the first four years of violence against Nigeria, Boko Haram killed around 2,000 people. In the past year, upwards of 10,000 people have been murdered, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, while some 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes. The country’s presidential election that was to be held in February was postponed because of the violence. It is scheduled to take place on march 28, hopefully.