“White Widow”, Kenyan Mall Bomber Was in Nigeria-UK Paper

Samantha Lewthwaite, the British widow known as “White Widow” accused of masterminding the despicable terrorist attack on Kenyan shopping mall which killed more than 60 people was in Nigeria and evaded detection, according to a report in the Daily Mirror, UK based newspaper.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek could not independently confirm the Daily Mirror’s claim as at the time of filing this report.

The Mirror’s report was however typical of reporting Africa in Western media style, complete with maligning words and aspersions on Nigeria’s security system.

According to the Mirror, “In Nigeria, where police forces are notoriously corrupt, there were reports she (Lewthwaite) was almost caught a while ago, but she bribed her way out of trouble”

The full report by Chris Hughes, Defence correspondent of the Daily Mirror read “If White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite is on the run she will be hard to catch”

It went to say that “If Samantha Lewthwaite were to be on the run in Kenya, Nigeria or Somalia, it would be a easier to evade detection than in Europe.

She would be wearing a veil, and sensitivities about searching Muslim women would be observed so she could easily slip through difficult checkpoints.

In Nigeria, where police forces are notoriously corrupt, there were reports she was almost caught a while ago, but she bribed her way out of trouble.

Extremist communities such as al-Shabaab are tight-knit in these countries, making it difficult to recruit agents to penetrate them and trace her.

And Lewthwaite may hold a great deal of power as a special kind of jihadist, having proved her worth in previous attacks.

As a white convert mum and widow of a 7/7 bomber, she would be invaluable propaganda and would command huge loyalty.

Also, the austere nature of her adopted culture means she would rarely go out, so there would be few opportunities to follow her.

Bounties have failed to nail jihadists as money has no value to individuals loyal to the cause”