Running away from the school
assembly ground with his white uniform stained with blood and bits of flesh, a
traumatised student of Government Comprehensive Senior Science Secondary
School, Potiskum, Yobe State, who survived a suicide bomb attack that claimed
the lives of 47 of his colleagues with 79 others injured, yesterday, recounted
his experience. The incident was considered one of the worst attacks on
schools.
Yobe State Governor, Ibrahim Gaidam,
in his immediate reaction challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to explain why
more people in the state were being killed by insurgents under a state of
emergency declared by him.
The explosion was said to have
ripped through an all-boys school in Potiskum just as students gathered for
morning assembly before classes began, causing panic and chaos.
The massacre came a day after the
release of a new Boko Haram video in which the Islamist group’s leader, Abubakar
Shekau, again rejected Nigerian government claims of a ceasefire and peace
talks.
Students at the school were waiting
to hear the principal’s daily address when the explosion happened at 7:50 am.
Several witnesses described the blast as “thunderous”, leaving the assembly
ground littered with abandoned footwear, books, bags and body parts.
Police Public Relations Officer,
Emmanuel Ojukwu said: “There was an explosion after a suicide bomber detonated
a bomb. We have 47 dead and 79 injured.” He added that Boko Haram was believed
to be responsible.
One rescue worker said the wounded
had “various degrees of injuries”, while those who survived complained of
hearing problems from the deafening blast. The school has more than 1,000
students and caters for boys aged 15 to 20. The victims are all believed to be
in their teens.
One of the surviving students, Adamu
Abdullahi said those at the centre of the blast near the principal’s office
were flung in all directions and others were knocked off their feet. Recounting
his experience to AFP, he said: “I found myself under the weight
of another student, who fell over me. I’m certain he was dead. I was dazed and
disorientated for a moment. When I realised what had happened, I managed to
push the body on top of me and started running like everyone else. It was
confusion all over. Everybody was hysterical. I saw many people on the ground.
Human flesh and blood were splattered all over the place. I ran out of the
school and went home. When my father saw me he was terrified. I didn’t realise
my white school uniform was stained with human blood and bits of flesh.”
The dead and injured were taken to
the Potiskum General Hospital, just 100 metres away.
A teacher at the school, a medic and
a rescue worker confirmed the blast happened at the Government Comprehensive
Senior Science Secondary School in Potiskum, Yobe State.
One of the rescue workers told AFP
that 13 bodies had been taken to hospital with more than 30 others left “with
various degrees of injuries”.
One of the teachers who witnessed
the explosion but asked not to be identified, said: ”The students had gathered
for the morning assembly when something exploded in their midst with a
thunderous sound at exactly 7:50 am. The explosion has affected many students
but I can’t say how many because we are now evacuating the victims to the
hospital which is just 100 metres away”.
A medic at the Potiskum General
Hospital, where the victims were taken, said scores of students had been
admitted. He said: “We are still receiving casualties from the school which is
a stone’s throw from here. Our priority now is to save the injured, so we have
not started a headcount of the victims.” A resident, Adamu Alkassim, said there
was confusion in and around the school.
Explain why our people are being
killed under emergency rule, Gaidam asks Jonathan
Reacting to the attack, Governor
Gaidam who demanded explanation from President Jonathan why more people were
being killed by insurgents under a state of emergency declared by the President
said that the emergency rule had failed to achieve the desired goal.
In a statement by his Special
Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, Abdullahi Bego, he said: “This is the
fifth time in about one year when our schools are being brutally attacked and
students killed. Governor Gaidam deeply regrets that all of these dastardly
attacks took place under a climate of Emergency Rule declared in Yobe, Borno
and Adamawa states by President Goodluck Jonathan.
“In theory, the Emergency Rule
Declaration was a signal that more vigorous steps would be taken to protect the
lives and property of people in the affected states and deploy the full might
of the Federal Government to restore peace and security.
“Unfortunately, this has not been
fully the case. Instead of forcing insurgents and criminals to flee; the
insurgents are forcing innocent people to flee and making life miserable for
everyone.”
Attacks on schools since July 2013
blamed on Boko Haram
June 17 2013: Extremists kill nine students as they took an exam in
Maiduguri.
July 6 2013: Gunmen attack a secondary school in Mamudo, near Potiskum,
killing 42 people, many of whom are students.
September 29 2013: Gunmen open fire on sleeping students in a dormitory in
Gujba, in Yobe state, killing 40.
February 25 2014: Suspected Islamists kill 43 in attack on sleeping secondary
school students in the town of Buni Yadi in Yobe state.
February 26-27 2014: 25 people killed during an attack against a Christian
school in Shuwa, in Adamawa state.
April 14 2014: 276 high school students, all girls, are kidnapped in
Chibok, Borno State.
June 23 2014: Eight people die and 12 are wounded when a bomb explodes at
a public health school in Kano.
September 17 2014: 13 people die, 34 wounded in a suicide attack at the campus
of the federal institute of higher education in Kano.
November 10 2014: A suicide attack kills at least 47 people and wounds some
79 students at a boys school in Potiskum.
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