Yobe School Terror: Death Toll Rises To 59 As Survivors Recount Their Ordeal

Yobe State - According to medical sources, a 16-year old boy, identified as Musa Mohammed, has died of gunshot wounds. He is the latest victim of Boko Haram attack on the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi, Gujba LGA of Yobe State.

His death raises the toll to 59 killed in Tuesday's attack.

In early hours of Tuesday, February 25, Boko Haram militants stormed the school, set the students' dormitories on fire and slit the throats of those who tried to escape.

Ten students suffering burns, gunfire and machete wounds still are being treated at local hospitals.

Girl spared

Girls were spared Tuesday. A student who escaped with a cut on his throat and a broken arm confirmed that no female student was hurt. He, however, added that the militants warned the girls to stay off school or risk being attacked.

The attack

Aliyu Ayuba, a JSS 3 student, fled the scene with a bullet in his back. He says the assailants, young men and boys in military uniforms and plain clothes, ordered the students to gather in one place and started shooting sporadically. He says all his roommates were killed and burnt inside the hostel.

He says they shouted for help but nobody came to their rescue.
Another survior, 14-year-old Ibrahim Musa Lampo, JSS 2 student, was shot in the leg while he was asleep. He could not walk and was later taken to the girls' hostel where the attackers gathered other students, including female ones. He says the gunmen took away a numbers and went away with them.
Ibrahim's parents, who sat beside their son, lamented the inability of the Government to protect the lives of the innocent students.

His mother pleaded with the FG to construct "a fence that will shield the students from intruders" and suggested dispatching sniffer dogs into the schools to patrol the premises. The boy's father, an immigration officer, was still in shock after the incident and simply said he had committed everything into the hands of God.

Malam Samaila Idris, a teacher, narrated how the attackers drove into the school premises in nine Hilux vans at around midnight on Monday; their bloody operation lasted for over 5 hours.

He said that those who stayed at school thought the assailants were military personnel, until the shooting started.

Those in staff quarters fled before the terrorists started fire.

"Most horrible experience"

A local resident who participated in the early rescue operation, said it was the most horrible experience he has ever had.

Meanwhile, thousands gathered at the local hospital: parents of the victims, as well as sympathisers.

Many parents could not identify the remains of their sons as the bodies were burnt beyond recognition.

One sobbing parent said his son pleaded with him to stay at home for a few more days after the school resumed, but he refused.

Via: Associated Press