Boko Haram suspected of killing 47 schoolboys in Nigerian suicide bombing

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Boko Haram suspected of killing 47 schoolboys in Nigerian suicide bombing

PUBLISHED : Monday, 10 November, 2014, 8:10pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 November, 2014, 4:25am

Reuters in Potiskum, Nigeria

People inspect the damage to the technical college in Potiskum after a suicide bomb attack on Monday. Photo: AP

A suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber disguised in school uniform killed 47 students in northeast Nigeria yesterday, in one of the worst of its many attacks against schools.

The explosion at the all-boys school in Potiskum is the latest in a series of atrocities against schoolchildren in the state of Yobe, and the second suicide attack in the town in eight days.

The massacre came just a day after the release of a new Boko Haram video in which the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, again rejected Nigerian government claims of a ceasefire and peace talks.

Students at the Government Comprehensive Senior Science Secondary School were waiting to hear the principal's daily address when the blast happened.

"There was an explosion detonated by a suicide bomber. We have 47 dead and 79 injured," police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu said, adding that Boko Haram was believed responsible.

Ojukwu also confirmed local media reports that the bomber was disguised as a student at the school, which has more than 1,000 pupils aged 15 to 20.

Yobe state governor Ibrahim Gaidam ordered the immediate closure of all public schools in the Potiskum area and slammed the government in Abuja for failing to tackle the insurgency.

Student 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.

"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," he said. "I managed to push the body on top of me and started running like everyone else.

"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.

Victims were taken to hospital, 100 metres away.

Boko Haram, which wants to create a hardline Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has carried out several deadly attacks on schools teaching a so-called Western curriculum since 2009.