Yobe State College of Agriculture,
Guijba, has increased from 50 to 90.
Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State;
The
death toll in the Sunday attack by suspected Boko Haram members on
the Yobe State College of Agriculture, Guijba, has increased from 50
to 90.
A security top source made this known
on Monday just as the Amnesty International, the Nigeria Labour
Congress, the All Progressives Congress, the Arewa Consultative Forum
and the Jama’atu Nasril Islam flayed the incident as ignoble,
wicked and horrendous.
Our source said that the authorities of
the school, while searching the bushes around the school with local
hunters and soldiers on Monday , recovered 28 more bodies.
He added that the search became
necessary when the authorities conducted a headcount of the students
that survived and discovered that some were still missing.
Before the source spoke, an
international human rights group, the Amnesty International, had in a
statement on Monday , quoted a Damaturu resident as having said that 62
bodies were counted at the Sani Abacha General Hospital Mortuary,
Damaturu.
“One resident of Damaturu said that on
Sunday he counted 62 bodies at the Sani Abacha General Hospital mortuary
in Damaturu, Yobe State,”AI said in a statement by its Africa Deputy
Director, Lucy Freeman.
The AI called on the government to adopt urgent measures to prevent further killing of students, especially in the North-East.
It observed that the attack on
educational institutions and students had increased since 2012 and
should be brought to an end immediately.
“Since 2012, we have seen an escalation
of lethal attacks against students and schools. On top of the tragic
loss of life, children are being prevented from accessing education. It
is high time for the authorities not only to investigate these
deplorable incidents and take those responsible to justice but to take
measures to prevent them,” the group added.
The group stated that the attacks on
schools had become more vicious and brutal since the beginning of 2013
with the latest taking place when schools were in session.
The AI said that Boko Haram, its
affiliate organisations and individuals “in northern Nigeria must
immediately stop all attacks on schools, students, teachers and pupils.”
When contacted, the Director of Defence
Information, Brig.- Gen Chris Olukolade, said, “I have not got that
report on the number of casualties so far.”
Efforts to get the comments of the Yobe
State Director of Press, Abdullahi Bego, did not yield result as calls
to his two mobile phones did not go through.
The PUNCH however gathered that Boko Haram members on Monday engaged soldiers in a fierce battle at the deserted college.
Investigations revealed that the
insurgents regrouped and engaged the troops who were deployed in the
school after the Sunday mayhem.
Another security source confided in
one of our correspondents that the soldiers, however, repelled the
attack even though no casualty figure was given.
“Several trucks of soldiers have moved
into the area. As we are talking, soldiers are also fighting the
insurgents at one border community between Borno and Yobe states, where
the insurgents burnt a Dangote truck and killed seven people on
Sunday,” he added.
But Olukolade said there were no
insurgents around the college of agriculture. He confirmed that
there was an encounter between soldiers and the gunmen in a forest
between Borno and Yobe states.
He said, “There are troops already
deployed in and around the school. At the moment, there are no
insurgents around the school. Troops are still in pursuit of the
terrorists.
“Right now there is an ongoing operation in a forest area between Yobe and Borno states where the terrorists were sighted.”
When contacted Spokesman for the JTF
in Yobe State, Lt Eli Lazarus, said he was not aware of the recovery
of 28 additional bodies from the school’s environs.
He also said that it was not correct to say that the insurgents attacked troops at a location around the institution.
According to him, the soldiers were on the ground on the institution’s premises and were holding it as a crime scene.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress,
the All Progressives Congress, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the
Jama’atu Nasril Islam, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr.
Aminu Tambuwal, and two former governors – Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Orji
Kalu – joined the AI on Monday in condemning the college massacre.
They appealed to the Federal Government
and security agencies to step up the tempo against terrorism and bring
the culprits to book.
To the Boko Haram, they said: Stop immediately, the senseless killings of hapless people, especially students.
The NLC , which was the first to
react, said the killing of the students in their sleep was
reprehensible and should not be allowed to happen again.
It said through its Deputy National
President, Mr. Promise Adewusi, that the killing represented the
height of bestiality which all Nigerians must be united to confront and
prevent.
The congress said, “It is a very
dastardly act, it is something that every well-meaning human being must
condemn. Going and sneaking in like a thief to slaughter innocent
students is the height of bestiality.
“Everything must be done to halt it. We
have had 22 students killed in the past but this is the height of
bestiality that we have had in the country.
“If those behind these heinous acts
are fighting for social development or whatever they claim, what have
those students got to do with it. The government should take it more
seriously; this thing will consume everybody if nothing is done.
“These are no longer Christians alone,
there are northerners among them. Let us stop playing politics with this
thing. We think the time has come for all Nigerians to come together to
fight and defeat this threat of terrorism.”
The APC, in a statement by its Interim
National Publicity, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, enjoined Boko Haram to
immediately cease all attacks and embrace dialogue in the interest of
national peace and security.
The party called on traditional,
religious, political and opinion leaders in the North-East to intervene
urgently to end the cycle of violence by the sect.
It stated, ‘’It is clear that this Boko
Haram menace cannot be resolved by the government alone, hence all
stakeholders must urgently intervene to complement government’s efforts
to end the insurgency and get those behind it to embrace dialogue.
‘’There can be no justification for Boko
Haram to continue to kill and maim innocent citizens, especially
because the victims are not just fellow Nigerians like them, but most
are actually their kith and kin.”
Also, the ACF and the Sultan Abubakar Sa’ad lll-led JNI said the killing was barbaric.
The ACF, in a statement by its
National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, therefore urged the
intelligence community and security agents to brace themselves and
nip such wicked acts in the bud.
It called on the Boko Haram members to lay down their arms and embrace peaceful means of resolving their grievances.
The statement reads in part, “The report
of cruel killing of many students of College of Agriculture in Yobe
State by gunmen is dastardly as it is aimless, precisely because
students have not done anything in the society or government that can
possibly grate the nerves of those who have committed the gruel- some
acts.
“As to those who relish in violence, it
bears repeating that there can be no way killing of innocent people and
students can address their concerns. More so that all religions preach
peace and love of neighbour.”
“Our hearts go to those who have lost
their wards to the dastardly acts in the hope that God will provide them
with the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses,” it said.
On its part, the JNI said that it
received the news of the Yobe killing and that of Attakar Chiefdom
in the Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State with consternation.
Its Secretary-General, Dr. Khalid Aliyu, said in a statement that the killings were utterly callous and condemnable.
The group called on the Federal
Government to restore the use of GSM to the affected states to
facilitate security alert/tip-off in situation(s) where insecurity, has
wreaked unprecedented havoc.
It said, “JNI will continue to ask
questions: Who are these blood thirsty fellows? How did they gain access
to the college? Why were they not prevented or arrested? What was the
motive behind such heinous act? Isn’t intelligent gathering supposed to
aid security operatives and why is it not yielding the desired results?
Indeed there is much more than meets the eyes.
“We make bold to say that Muslims are
worst hit in this quandary situation. We therefore call on government at
all levels to do everything possible as a matter of urgency to stop
these evil acts of terror repeatedly being unleashed on innocent souls
and restore the use of GSM in the affected states to facilitate security
alert/tip-off in situation(s) where insecurity, has wrecked
unprecedented havoc against innocent citizens.”
Also, Tambuwal described the attack “as ignoble, wicked and horrendous.”
The speaker said killing defenceless
students was “inhuman”, especially coming about two months after gunmen
murdered another set of students at the Government Secondary School,
Mamudo, also in Yobe State.
Tambuwal, who tasked security agencies
to bring the killers to justice, noted that they must also introduce new
strategies to be a step ahead of terrorist groups.
In a statement by his Special Adviser,
Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Imam Imam, the speaker called on
Nigerians to be vigilant and assist security agencies with information
on the hideout of suspected criminals.
Part of the statement reads, “We in the House of Representatives feel the grief and pain of the families of the victims.
“In this their hour of need, we will stand with them hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.
“We want to assure them that as
brothers, we will continue to confront the threats of terror confronting
our nation, and we know we will come out stronger and victorious.”
On its part, the National Congress of Nigeria Students described the killings as shocking.
The group, in a statement in Abuja by
its National President, Abdulsalam Abdulfatah, said the incident was a
display of barbaric mentality.
It said that it had raised the alarm that schools in the North should be provided with adequate security.
“It takes a government that does not
value the lives of its citizens to turn a deaf ear to such a call. This
shows how far the Nigerian government values the life of its citizens,”
the group said.
A former Lagos State Governor, Ashiwaju
Tinubu, condoled with the Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Ibrahim
Gaidam, over the incident, which he said, “jars the conscience and
reminds us of the sinister nature of the enemy our nation now faces.”
In a statement to The PUNCH, Tinubu said, “I was moved to deep sorrow upon hearing the news of the tragedy that befell the college.
“As a governor, you are the father of
all residents in your state. Thus you carry the heavy grief of a father;
but you don’t carry this grief alone; Nigeria grieves with you.”
Urging Gaidam to “look beyond the death
and spilled blood of these innocent children, he added that “in times
like these, it is easy to give up and retreat into the shadows these
evil forces have created but we must not give way to sorrow.”
“This is a contest for the soul of Yobe
State and Nigeria; we dare not lose it. Should these murderers
accomplish this, they will only attack another institution, then
another, until they are all flattened,” Tinubu said.
Kalu, in a statement by his Special
Adviser on Media, Oyekunle Oyewumi, charged security agents to put a
stop to the killings to restore confidence of Nigerians in the
country.
“It is sad that despite the efforts of
the government, very little appears to have changed,” he said and
prayed that such would not occur again
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