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 taks JonathanReacting 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
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