Police hunt killer mob who burnt woman in Bauchi bomb scare

The Nigerian police has said a massive hunt is on for the mob who beat to death and later burnt a woman in Bauchi after she was suspected of being a suicide bomber, this is according to MSN.

The woman, identified by her mother as 33-year-old Thabita Haruna, was killed on Sunday in Bauchi after she allegedly refused to undergo a security screening at a city market.

It is not uncommon for Boko Haram to use women and young girls as human bombs against so-called "soft targets" such as crowded bus stations and markets. In this case, however, it's been proven that it was a horrible case of mistaken identity.

Speaking on the case, police spokesman Haruna Mohammed said Sunday's victim was not a bomber.

"All our investigations have proved that this woman was mentally sick and had nothing to do with suicide bombing. We as law enforcement agents will not stand by and allow people to take the law into their hands. We are continuing with (the) investigation and as soon as the perpetrators of this act are arrested we will take legal action (against) them."

Also speaking on the case, the victim's mother, Rahab Haruna described late Thabitha as "a normal young woman" who worked as a trader until she became mentally ill, and hoped the police would take "appropriate action".

Describing Thabitha's condition, Haruna said she would get occasional bouts of illness during which she would get wild and destroy things.

"She would get an occasional bout of the illness and when that happened she would go wild and destroy things. She would gather household articles and burn them. When she got out of the fit she would calm down and became normal and help with domestic chores. She left home on Saturday, we didn't know where she went. We looked for her all over our neighbourhood but we didn't find her until the next day. She ended up in Muda Lawal (market) where she was assaulted, humiliated and burnt to death. Before she was killed they searched her and found on her the identification card of her sister Alheri."