Suicide bomber kills 48 Yobe students

AN explosion, caused by a suicide bomber at Government Technical School, in Potiskum, Yobe State, left no fewer than 48 students dead, residents disclosed.
The technical school was former Senior Science Secondary School, on General Hospital Road, Potiskum.

A resident close to the house of Emir of Kukuri, opposite the school, Mallam Inusa Ahmadu, told newsmen that the suicide bomber disguised and joined the students in the school before detonating the bomb.
“We wanted to go into the school to ascertain the number of casualty, but we were told that the suicide bombers were three, that is why we did not enter, but the students who ran away from the school told us that over 40 of them had been killed in the attack.
“I did not go into the school, but most of the students, who ran for safety, some of whom are currently in our house, said 41 student were killed and many were injured,” Ahmadu said.
According to him, the explosion occurred exactly around 7.59 a.m.
“Security operatives are currently in the school and we saw bodies of both the wounded and the dead being carried to the General Hospital, while many residents are trooping to the hospital to check for their wards, but fear of another explosion did not allow people to go into the school premises,” he added.
Another resident, Alhaji Adamu Potiskum, speaking on phone with the Nigerian Tribune, said he did not know the actual number of casualty.”
“It was a sad news this morning, I was at the General Hospital a moment ago but I could not stand to see these young boys dead and some others in pains,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the attack, vowing that the perpetrators would be hunted down, now matter how long it takes.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, in Abuja, on Monday, Jonathan extended heartfelt commiseration to the government and people of Yobe State on the death of many students in a bomb attack.
He also conveyed his deepest sympathies to all parents who lost their beloved children in the heinous attack, which he noted appeared to have been carried out by a suicide bomber.
He re-affirmed that “Nigeria will ultimately overcome the current security challenges imposed by domestic terrorists and their foreign allies, with the dedication of its Armed Forces and national security agencies, as well as the continued support and cooperation of all patriotic citizens.”
Senate President, David Mark, said time had come for terrorists to put an end to their mindless killing of Nigerians in the name of insurgency.
Mark, in a statement in which he condemned the Yobe school bomb blast, said the needless massacre of students by suicide a bomber in the Government Science School, Potiskum was unimaginable.
In the statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, Mark expressed sadness over the incident and commiserated with the government and people of Yobe State.
According to him, the war declared by insurgents was war without boundaries, where men, women, children and even the unborn were victims, adding that the act must be stopped.
Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, expressed outrage over the bombing of the school by a yet-to-be identified suicide bomber dressed as a student of the school.
The former vice president, in a statement by his media office in Abuja, said the latest bombing, which needlessly claimed the lives of over 40 young and promising Nigerian school children, was one too many.
Atiku noted that the tragic incident in Potiskum was not the first time in Yobe State and, indeed, in the troubled North-East region, adding that “one expects that knowing the anti-education mind-set of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, the relevant authorities should have done their bit to ensure that, at least, our educational institutions are provided with additional security.”