MOSCOW, November 10 (Sputnik) – Approximately 50 students have been killed in a suicide bombing that rocked an all-boys science and technical school in Potiskum, northeastern Nigeria, AFP reports.
“There was an explosion detonated by a suicide bomber. We have 47 dead and 79 injured,” said national police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu, as quoted by the news agency.
“School children were at the assembly ground this morning at about 7:30 am [06:30 GMT], then a suicide bomber who was disguised and dressed as student detonated a bomb,” a witness told BBC, adding the attack on the Government Comprehensive Senior Science Secondary School was “devastating”.
“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,” Adamu Abdullahi, a student at the school, told AFP. “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,” he recalled.
The incident took place at 7:50 a.m. (06:50 GMT). Those killed and injured have been taken to the Potiskum General Hospital located nearby.
Boko Haram is suspected of being behind the attack on the school, which teaches with a Western curriculum. However, the militant group, whose name is often translated as “Western education is forbidden”, has not taken responsibility for the massacre. Boko Haram has carried out numerous attacks against schools since 2009, killing and abducting scores of pupils. In April, Islamists kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok; 219 of them are still missing. The incident sparked international outrage and spawned the #Bringbackourgirls campaign.
Yobe, where Postikum is located, is one of three Nigerian states, which has seen a spike in violence over the last years. In May 2013, Nigerian authorities declared a state of emergency in Yobe due to Boko Haram activity in the region.
