Explosion rocks Yobe School

No fewer than 48 students were killed and 79

others seriously injured when a bomb exploded
at the Government Science School, Potiskum,
Yobe State on Monday.
Our correspondents gathered that the explosion
occurred at about 7.45am as the students were
queuing up for the normal morning assembly.
Eyewitnesses said bodies of the victims were
scattered around the assembly ground, while
both staff and students ran helter-skelter to rush
the wounded to the hospital.
Potiskum, the largest commercial town of the
state, was thrown into pandemonium as many
parents rushed to the school and other schools
in the town to pick their children back home.
All the schools in the town were desolate as the
pupils and teachers had fled.
Though no one has claimed responsibility for the
attack, the blast is believed to be the handiwork
of the Islamic fundamentalist group, Boko
Haram, which has been carrying out a reign of
terror in the North eastern part of the country.
A resident of the town, Ibrahim Ahmed, told
newsmen on the telephone, "We heard a loud
sound and since then, the area was condoned off
but ambulances have been going into the school
to pick corpses and take the injured to the
hospital. Potiskum has been in pandemonium
since 7.45am as a result of the attack on the
school.
"I can tell you all schools in the town have been
closed now as parents have gone to pick their
children. There is wailing everywhere especially
around the school where the incident happened."
The Yobe State Commissioner of Police, Markus
Danladi, who confirmed the incident, said he was
on his way to the scene of the incident and
promised to give details later.