KANO, July 6, 2013 (AFP) –
Gunmen believed to be
Islamists from Nigeria’s
Boko Haram insurgent
group killed 42 people,
mostly students, in an
overnight attack on a
secondary school in
restive Yobe state, a
medical worker and
residents said Saturday.
File Photo
“We received 42 dead
bodies of students and
other staff of Government
Secondary School (in)
Mamudo last night. Some
of them had gunshot
wounds while many of
them had burns and
ruptured tissues,” Haliru
Aliyu of the Potiskum
General Hospital told AFP.
Mamudo is some five
kilometres from
Potiskum, the commercial
hub of Yobe State which
has been a flashpoint in
the Boko Haram
insurgency in recent
months.
“From accounts of
teachers and other
students who escaped the
attack, the gunmen
gathered their victims in a
hostel and threw
explosives and opened
fire, leading to the death of
42,” Aliyu said.
He said security personnel
were combing the bushes
around the school in
search of students who
were believed to have
escaped with gunshot
wounds.
“So far six students have
been found and are now
in the hospital being
treated for gunshot
wounds,” he added.
A local resident who did
not want to be named
confirmed the attack.
“It was a gory sight.
People who went to the
hospital and saw the
bodies shed tears. There
were 42 bodies, most of
them were students.
Some of them had parts
of their bodies blown off
and badly burnt while
others had gunshot
wounds,” he said.
He said the attack was
believed to be a reprisal
by the Boko Haram
Islamists for the killing of
22 sect members during a
military raid in the town of
Dogon Kuka on Thursday.
Nigeria declared a state of
emergency in three
flashpoint states of
Adamawa, Borno and
Yobe in mid-May as it
launched a major
offensive to end the
insurgency.
Violence linked to the
Boko Haram insurgency
has left some 3,600
people dead since 2009,
including killings by the
security forces.
Boko Haram which
means “western
education is evil” has killed
hundreds of students in
attacks on schools in the
tense region in recent
months.