Nigeria arrests female Boko Haram recruiters

This image, taken from video posted by Boko Haram sympathisers, shows the leader of the radical Islamist sect, Abubakar Shekau. File picture: AP

This image, taken from video posted by Boko Haram sympathisers, shows the leader of the radical Islamist sect, Abubakar Shekau. File picture: AP

Published Jul 5, 2014

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Johannesburg -

Nigeria has arrested three women suspected of recruiting female activists for the radical Islamist group Boko Haram, media reported on Friday.

The three “were luring ladies, especially widows and young girls, by enticing them with male suitors who are mainly members of their terror group for marriage,” Premium Times quoted Director of Defence Information Onyema Nwachukwu as saying.

The three were captured on their way to a forest where they intended to meet with fellow Boko Haram members in north-eastern Nigeria.

One of the three was identified as the widow of a Boko Haram member who was killed in a clash with security forces.

Last month, a female suicide bomber died and killed a soldier when the explosives she was carrying detonated at a security checkpoint.

The woman had intended to attack a barracks in north-eastern Gombe state.

Boko Haram, which launched its insurgency against the government in 2009 with the aim of creating an Islamic state in Nigeria, has killed more than 2 000 people this year alone. - Sapa-dpa

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