Nearly 50 pupils were killed on Monday in a suicide bombing
in northeast Nigeria blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram - one of the
deadliest attacks against schools teaching a so-called Western curriculum.
The explosion 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 just a day after the release of a new Boko
Haram video in which the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, again rejected
Nigerian government claims of a ceasefire and peace talks.
Students at the Government Comprehensive Senior Science
Secondary 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" and the bloody aftermath a scene of abandoned footwear,
school books, bags and body parts.
"There was an explosion detonated by a suicide bomber.
We have 47 dead and 79 injured," national police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu
said, adding 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 pupils and caters for boys
aged 15 to 20. The victims are all thought to be in their teens.
Student 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.
"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," he told AFP.
"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 (yards) away.
Boko Haram, which wants to create a hardline Islamic state
in northern Nigeria, has previously carried out deadly attacks on schools
teaching a so-called Western curriculum since 2009.
In February, gunmen killed at least 40 students after
throwing explosives into the dormitory of a government boarding school in Buni
Yadi, also in Yobe state.
In July last year, 42 students were killed when Boko Haram
stormed dormitories in a gun and bomb attack on a government boarding school in
the village of Mamudo, near Potiskum.
Boko Haram's most high-profile attack on a school came in
April, when fighters kidnapped 276 girls from the town of Chibok in Borno
state, also in northeast Nigeria.
More than six months later, 219 of the girls are still being
held.
Monday's attack will again raise concerns about the level of
security at schools in northern Nigeria.
Abdullahi said the establishment was "not properly
fenced".
"Anybody can go in and out unhindered," he added.
- Relentless violence -
Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe state, has been
repeatedly targeted by deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram.
Last Monday, at least 15 people were killed in a suicide
bombing on a Shiite religious ceremony in the city.
On Wednesday, 16 men arrested by the military on suspicion
of links to Boko Haram were found dead with bullet wounds just hours later.
Yobe is one of three northeastern states that has been under
a state of emergency since May last year to try to quell the bloody insurgency.
But violence has continued unabated and Boko Haram has
seized at least two dozen towns and villages in recent months, raising doubts
about the government's ability to control the region.
Boko Haram fighters were seen in a new video obtained by AFP
on Sunday parading a tank in an unidentified town that they apparently now
control and Shekau preaching to locals.
The message in the 44-minute video appeared to be aimed at
reinforcing Shekau's claim that he has created a caliphate within Nigeria.
Shekau, who has previously expressed solidarity with other
jihadi groups and leaders, seemed to associate territory under his control with
a wider, global caliphate.
But he does not submit to the authority of any other leader.
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