Yobe Massacre: Death Toll Rises To 90

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.