A 15-year-old Nigerian boy, Ali Goni, has revealed that he made 500 bombs which was used for suicide missions by Boko Haram insurgents. Goni, who is undergoing rehabilitation at a military detention camp in Maiduguri said, “I was kidnapped along with my mother in Bama’s Kawuri Street by Baba Kaka, a dreaded Boko Haram commander.
“They took us to Sambisa and kept us in a camp called “Kwalfata”. We underwent various training in the camp. During the course of our induction training, I was selected to be trained on bomb making technique, bomb detection as well as identifying and demobilising explosives. I refused initially, but they said they would kill my mother just like the way they killed my father when they stormed Bama. So I eventually agreed. During the training, many of my colleagues died while trying to make bombs. At the end I emerged the best among all. My job was to make many bombs that would be used for suicide missions. I was working under the supervision of Baba Musa, a 70 year-old.
“Musa also thought me the new technique of making underwear IED with padlock. At some point, I was the only bomb maker when all those I was trained with were killed by the military during several attacks. So they took me from camp to camps to make IEDs for suicide missions. I was in Kangarwa, Pulka, Banki and other camps. I managed to escape when the military bombed our camp in Baga. I ran to Cameroon where I surrendered to the Cameroonian forces. I was later handed over to the Nigeria military.
Goni hoped to be a soldier in the future to help the military in identifying IEDs. The military did not allow his photographs to be taken because of his age.”
Photo Credit: Getty
