SAN FRANCISCO, November 10, (THEWILL) – For the second time in a week, Boko Haram insurgents, Monday morning, launched a deadly suicide attack on Potiskum, the commercial town of Yobe State, killing no fewer than 48 students at the Government Science Technical College, Potiskum who were at their early morning assembly , leaving 79 others injured.
A student of the school, Mohammed Isa, who survived the attack, disclosed that the suicide bomber disguised as a student , putting on the school uniform like other students only for him to detonate the bomb he was carrying in the middle of the assembly.
Narrating the experience in an encounter with journalists at the Potiskum General Hospital, where the corpses of the dead students were deposited and the injured taken for treatment, Isa said: “We were at the assembly ground at about 7:30 am today waiting for the principal to conduct the service when a loud bang was heard and all I can see is that I have fallen in pains and many around me were in blood and groaning and shooting in pains.”
Isa said he was assisted to the hospital by good Samaritans who came to the rescue of the injured students and also loaded the corpses into vehicles.
According to Isa, the tradition at the school is to assemble at the Assembly Ground for devotion before the students and teachers move into their classes.
He said the suicide bomber must disguised as a student and must have detonated the bomb while they were waiting for the principal.
However, the bomb attack triggered another crisis as residents of the town attempted to clash with security operatives at the scene of the bombing.
Apparently angered at the attack, the residents who were armed with sticks protested the bombing as they shouted at the security operatives , blaming them for not providing enough security in the town.
Shouting down the soldiers who had come to rescue the injured students and convey the corpses of the dead to the hospital, the irate residents chanted different slogans such as “we are better off without you”, “we do not want you again in our town,” “you are useless to us,” forcing the military to leave the scene to avoid a mob attack.
Yobe State Commissioner of Police, Markus Danladi, confirmed the suicide attack, though he could not provide much details when filing this report.
