Kano , Nigeria ( CNN ) A 13-year-old Nigerian girl told reporters that her father handed her over to Islamist militants to become a suicide bomber , but she fled as two other girls detonated their explosives at a market earlier this month . The girl was presented before the media Wednesday to describe what she called her forced role in the deadly attack . Her father , she said , joined Boko Haram and took his wife and daughter to a village in the forest in Bauchi state in northern Nigeria . `` My father took us to the bush , which was surrounded by gunmen , '' she said , according to a CNN translation . `` I was asked if I wanted to go to heaven . When I answered , they said I have to go for a suicide mission and if I attempted to run they would kill me . '' The girl and two others were taken by Boko Haram militants to Nigeria 's second most populous city , Kano , and were dressed with explosives-laden devices . The other girls set off hidden bombs that day , killing four people , police said . `` One of the girls said one of us should enter the market first , '' the girl told reporters . `` She said we should separate when we entered the market . '' The girl described how one attacker said the third girl would set off her bomb first , then the remaining two would detonate their explosives . `` I said no . I said I would not detonate , '' the girl said . She was wounded by one of the explosions . The teen escaped in a rickshaw that she took to a former home in Kano , the girl said . Neighbors saw her and made her go to a hospital . She left the explosive device in the cart , but the driver and hospital officials recognized the device and alerted authorities . The girl told police she was forced into being a part of the attack . What to know about Boko Haram . CNN has not independently verified the girl 's story . Police presented her to the media without her parents or a lawyer present . Officials wanted to make clear the attack was the work of Boko Haram . `` We want to disabuse the minds of members of the public . ... This is not a tribal war . It 's a terrorism act like we have had in the past , '' Kano State Police Commissioner Adenerele Shinabad said . Boko Haram has terrorized northern Nigeria regularly since 2009 , attacking police , schools , churches and civilians , and bombing government buildings . Violence has increased sharply in recent months , just ahead of Nigeria 's February elections . Schoolgirl describes escape from Boko Haram . The group has targeted mainstream Islam , saying that it does not represent the interests of Nigeria 's 80 million Muslims and that it perverts Islam . In April , Boko Haram militants drew international condemnation when they kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls , many of whom they said they sold into slavery . At least 5,000 people have died at Boko Haram 's hands , according to a U.S. Congressional Research Service report , making it one of the world 's deadliest terrorist organizations . Why outrage alone will not defeat Boko Haram and # BringBackOurGirls . CNN 's Aminu Abubakr reported from Kano and Steve Almasy wrote in Atlanta . CNN 's Jessica King contributed to this report .
Girl says other bomber said one of the trio should go in first and set off explosive device . Girl says her father turned her over to the Islamist militants . Comment: